Shades of Black
by Scarlett-Whitecross20
Summary: While a Paladin's strange behavior sparks questions, another Paladin's return is a welcomed surprise. But when a stranger's appearance creates a cascade of events, the team must roll with the punches to keep up. There are no ships involved other than friendships.
1. Intro

Voltron: Shades of Black

Intro

A terrible nightmare...

Followed by a surprise(or two)...

And then by darkness...

An argument was brewing amongst the Paladins. And though Shiro saw only darkness, he knew it was getting heated, soon to become hurtful... and maybe even violent.

"Everyone knock it off!" His voice echoed around the room and all was suddenly silent...

A glowing lion stood opposite him...

and after a long pause it bounded ferociously toward him, with its teeth bared in a loud roar!!...

The darkness surrounded him, as did the battle. Though he still felt separated from it, even if he was right in the middle of it.

~Shades of Black~

~Coming Soon~


	2. Terrified!

Voltron: Shades Of Black

Chapter one: Terrified!

 _Shadows surrounded the Black Paladin. Shiro knew where he was, and tried desperately not to panic. When a dark figure appeared,... but it was so dark he couldn't see them. Although he knew who it was, he couldn't help but have this small, inkling doubt of being wrong. Then the figure lunged forward in an attack. Next thing he knew he was in a Galra capsule which began to fill with a light purple liquid, totally submerging him. And subsequently he saw Keith standing a few feet away from him with his back to him, and he turned his head to look at him._

 _He was in the same Blade of Marmora suit he'd worn when he was tested by the Blades. Keith began fighting Blade after Blade. Shiro yelled his name, running forward; but hit what felt like an invisible brick wall. He hit the ground hard, but when he looked up, he saw Haggar standing over him, blasting him with her magic. Suddenly the floor fell out from under him, and he felt like he was falling forever into a dark endless pit. But when he hit the ground, a dizzying wave slammed over him. When the room had stopped spinning he saw he was on an experimentation table and a light suddenly shown in his face. His eyes squinted in the brightness of it and when they suddenly adjusted, he was lying on a hill._

 _He saw clouds and next to him was a younger version of Keith. There was another person on his other side,... his father. They were happy together, both men were smiling but neither one saw the other, it was as if two parts of his life were separately existing simultaneously. Shiro's mother came out of the house behind them, with snacks for him and his dad. Everyone around him was talking to him, but he couldn't hear them; and all he could do was stare in confusion at what he was seeing. But then a shadow slowly loomed over them, yet no one looked up. Shiro yelled for everyone to run but they didn't hear him. The tractor beam reached out to them, and he began to float up towards the ship calling for help; but no one could hear him. And finally he saw Zarkon, and the Black lion sitting behind him. Zarkon drew a sword using the Black Bayard, and lashed out at him..._

Shiro woke with a start, his eyes shot open and he sprang upright in a matter of seconds. His breaths sounded more like gasps and he realized he'd been sweating. Though it had been weeks, if not months, since he had returned from the Galra for the _second_ time, he still felt like it had been just yesterday. He had been asleep this entire time, it was just a nightmare. Shiro sighed and lowered his head in frustration, this was the third time this week, and the fourteenth time since he'd returned; as if he were counting. _When will this end?_ He thought to himself. He looked at his hand, and then at the photos he had pinned to the wall next to his bed. He looked at each one, and the faces on them. These were happy memories, yet his smile was short-lived. He wished that all his good memories were not always drowned out by all his bad ones.

Realizing he would probably not be able to sleep again tonight, he dragged himself out of bed, put on his clothes and headed to the bridge.

 _XXXX_

"Ahhh, I slept like a baby last night! I don't think I've slept that good in weeks!" Commented Lance, stretching his arms out above his head.

"Yeah, I gotta say, I slept pretty good too." Hunk agreed.

"It's strange though," Pidge remarked thoughtfully. "It's really been quiet for quite some time now. We haven't really seen any activity from the Galra _or_ Lotor."

"I agree." The Princess put in. "The Galra's sudden... inactivity, _is_ rather strange. But I can't help but think of it as a good thing." When they entered the bridge, they were surprised by what they saw. Shiro sat in his chair behind the teludav slouched backwards, almost sprawled out in it. The back of his head and neck were pressed against the back of the seat, and his feet stood flat on the ground. He was leaning to the left, head in his left hand, which was rested on the arm of the chair. The Black Paladin was fast asleep, but looked very unsettled. The look of exhaustion clearly showed across his still face; and it seemed as though a shadow was being cast over him.

"Shiro..." Lance began.

"Wait!" Allura interrupted in a hissing whisper. "Clearly he needs to be left alone."

"Then what are we supposed to do ignore him?" Pidge asked sarcastically.

"Yes." Allura responded firmly.

"It's just that this isn't the first time this has happened." Pidge continued, "shouldn't we be trying to figure out the reason?"

"Believe me," the Princess returned. "I'm as disturbed as you are. But it's clear that Shiro needs all sleep he can get. We should be respectful of that and let him sleep."

Suddenly the castle doors opened again, and the former Red Paladin emerged from it. At the same time they all cried, "Keith!" Everyone immediately covered their mouths when Shiro flinched, they stood silent and still; until he leaned the other way and stayed asleep.

"What are you doing here?" Allura whispered happily, everyone turning back toward Keith.

"I came to visit, missions have been slow. Kolivan encouraged me to come and he'd call me back if he needs me." He replied, his slight smile fading as his gaze wandered passed everyone else. "What's with Shiro?" He asked, concern and confusion crossing his face.

"We don't know." Allura answered with a shrug.

"And from the looks of it." Pidge observed. "He's been here for a few hours."

"How long has he been like this?" Fear beginning to rise up in Keith, almost dreading the answer.

"A few weeks? A couple of months? We're not sure really, but it's been going on for a while." Pidge replied gravely. Keith looked at the ground in disappointment, trying to make sense of it.

"What has he been doing?" He continued.

"Well it seems like every morning we either find him already awake, or asleep in some other part of the castle." Pidge answered.

"What?" Keith became even more confused by this.

"Yeah," Hunk confirmed, "like yesterday we found him in the Black lion's bay, three days ago we found him in the infirmary, and a couple weeks ago next to an escape pod."

"And a month ago, in the detainment room." Lance finished, "and that's not even all of them." Keith's face showed his concern, and suspicion.

"Keith, what is it?" Allura asked, reading his expression.

"It's nothing, it's just... it... it doesn't sound like Shiro." Keith responded, glancing at the Princess. That's all. Though I'm not sure I know him as well as I used to."

"What do you mean?" Allura wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"Ever since Shiro was taken by the Galra he's… Changed." His eyes meeting hers.

"How well did you know Shiro beforehand?" Allura wondered

"What do you mean?"

"Right from the beginning back on Arus, it seemed very clear to me that you and Shiro have known each other for a long time." Allura recalled.

"Yeah, how did you meet anyway?" Pidge chimed in. Keith paused a moment, he hadn't realized that neither he nor Shiro had ever told them their story.

"Um, well," he began, "uh, we met at the Garrison."

"Wait so you haven't known Shiro very long then?" Lance interrupted quickly.

"What, no, not..." Keith sighed, a little frustrated. "I wasn't _in_ the Garrison at the time... Shiro was."

"Woah, then that must've been a while ago." Hunk commented in amazement.

"How old do you think Shiro is?" Keith was a little disgusted by this comment.

"Oh, I don't know?" Hunk shrugged, with an awkward smile. "But it had to have been long before us right?" Keith sighed again.

"Well anyway, Shiro was the reason I wanted to get into the Garrison to begin with." He looked back up at them. "He's the one who encouraged me to give it a try."

"He must have really inspired you." Allura remarked thoughtfully.

"Yeah." He chuckled. "He did. I saw him during a training exercise, he was finishing up his last few months of training. He was left out in the open for survival training. He was being tested... to see if he had the ability to survive in conditions like space. It was all part of his training, though... I'd like to think it was something more. He was expected to find his way back to the Garrison within eight hours. Of course, Shiro was so good he finished his test sooner.

Anyway, he was trekking through a mini canyon when I saw him. And since he was wearing a Garrison uniform, I wondered what he was doing out there. I followed just above him on a ledge opposite his. He was on one side of the drop, and I was on the other. I was trying to stay hidden, but Shiro caught me. Almost nothing got past him. We introduced ourselves and I asked him about what he was doing and what the Garrison was. Of course knowing Shiro, he willingly told me anything I wanted to know.

I would say he reminded me of my dad, but... I'd be lying. Shiro was nothing like my dad."

"Is that good or bad?" Pidge questioned.

"Oh it's good, really good actually. But I guess, anyone could have been better than my dad. I mean he loved me and all, but... I couldn't help feeling there was more to being a father than what my dad was to me. He died when I was eight. And to be honest, Shiro has been more of a father to me than he ever was. Though... I still think of him more as a brother."

Shiro stirred, making everyone look in his direction. Keith drew near when he sensed something wasn't right. But when he put a hand on Shiro's shoulder, The Black Paladin thrust himself upright swinging his robot hand towards Keith. Though he was startled, Keith managed to avoid the blow. Shiro stood half stunned for a second before realizing his surroundings and the situation around him. He then noticed who was standing at the end of his weaponized extremity.

"Keith?" Shiro was surprised that Keith was even there; and the looks on everyone's face made him think about what he had just done. His expression was then filled with horror as he dropped his hand away from Keith's face, and stepped back in disgust of himself. He dropped his head and shoulders in shame. "I.. I'm sorry. I-.."

"It's ok.." Keith began calmly, "Shiro.. what's going on? You've been acting really strange lately. Are you ok?" Shiro was silent, the shadow of his white tuft of hair seemed to cover his face. "Please," Keith begged. "We wanna help you."

Shiro was silent for a moment, his head still lowered and staring at the ground in front of where he stood. "That's just it..." He paused, sitting down again. He closed his eyes, then looked up at them with hollow eyes, "I don't know." Everyone's expressions were concerned and worried at the same time...

 _not even Shiro knows what's happening to him_. Keith strode over to where his friend sat, as he did so Shiro stood up again. Placing a hand on Shiro's shoulder got his attention, earning Keith his glance.

"Don't worry." Keith tried to sound encouraging. "We'll figure this out." Shiro's gaze never changed, though he knew he was right.

"So what's been happening to you recently,.." Pidge began slowly. "What's changed?"

"I'm not- sure." Shiro replied earnestly, "I was just... I seem to be reliving the nightmares of my past with the Galra. Every night it's something different."

"Do you have any idea what it could mean?" Allura wondered.

"No idea." Shiro replied. "It's just... strange."

"And what about the different places we've found you? Are you,.. sleep-walking?" Lance asked cautiously.

"Maybe," Shiro shrugged genuinely. "I mean. I've never done it before."

"Doesn't mean you won't start." Keith pointed out. He was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, as though he was thinking.

"I guess," Shiro reasoned, he shrugged again, glancing at Keith. "So when did you find me?"

"About half an hour ago," Keith returned.

"We decided to leave you alone, so you could sleep. We didn't want to disturb you." Allura added.

"Then what were you doing in the meantime?" Shiro wondered.

"Keith was just telling us how you guys met." Pidge answered. Shiro smiled as the memories came floating back to him.

"Is that so?" He said.

"Yeah, so he was telling us that he first saw you when you were training at the Garrison. He was saying that he saw you out in the middle of the desert doing some survival training, as part of your final training requirements. You were about to graduate from the program, and be hired by the Garrison as a pilot." Hunk summarized.

"Yeah, he's right, it was my final test before graduation. I didn't realize Keith was following me until he accidentally showed himself in the canyon." Keith and Shiro exchanging smiles of remembrance.

"The canyon paths were a little rocky and unstable." Keith continued. "But we didn't really pay attention to that."

"That is until Keith got into trouble." Shiro smirked; recalling that day clearly. Everyone's face became surprised, and Shiro continued. "He was on a trail that was starting to narrow out. When suddenly it came out from under him and he was hanging from the ledge."

"Wait so what did you do?" Hunk was confused.

"Well I used my rock climbing gear to rescue him," Shiro smiled. "Then he helped me when I got trapped."

"What happened?" Pidge asked, worry crossing her face. She anxiously wondering how this was going to end.

"Well once I had rescued him from the ledge we continued on the path I was taking. We reached the end of the trail, and just as soon as Keith back was on solid ground. The ground under me caved in and I slid down the ledge. Rocks fell down, and l was trapped in a small crevice in the canyon. And Keith decided to return the favor." Shiro shot Keith a smile, as Keith continued the story.

"I was carrying some of Shiro's gear for a little while before he fell." He confirmed. "So I used it to hoist myself down to rescue him from the rocks."

"Wait so if Keith helped you, and you helped him." Hunk noted, trying to put the pieces together. "How did you pass your test?" Keith and Shiro at each other and laughed.

"Let's just say, it became our little secret." Shiro replied simply.

"You mean you didn't tell your professors about it?" Lance questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh I told them..." Shiro responded, his eyes calm and gentle. "Just not the whole story. I had to tweak it to prevent them from finding out."

"After that, we started to hang out more. Shiro graduated, and began Professional Pilot training. And I started getting into space travel. Shiro and I would hang out together and he would tell me about his training and give me pointers. He once said that I'd make a great pilot someday. About a year later Shiro was chosen to go on his first mission. He was gone for a month."

"We launched for the moon, I was the pilot, it was my first time flying a solo mission. One of my other crew members was also going to space for the first time too. Sound familiar, Pidge?" At first Pidge stared at him in confusion, but then it hit her.

"Matt." She realized. "My dad and brother were on that mission with you." She thought aloud.

"Exactly, and that's what started our long-time friendship... and partnership."

"So that's how you met my dad and Matt." Pidge concluded, a smile crossing her face.

"Yep, and that first mission was a huge success! And the Garrison sent us on several more short missions together after that. Until we were selected for the Kerberos mission."

"But wouldn't you have had to be on longer missions before going on such a hugely important mission like that?" Lance asked, crossing his arms.

"Yes, and I did have a few long important, time-sensitive missions that I'd completed before the Kerberos mission. They were testing me to see if I was good enough to go on a mission like that."

"Shiro and I became really close." Keith added. "We spent a lot of time together. Even between Shiro's missions, training, and anything else the Garrison may have had him do for them." Allura turned to Shiro with concern.

"But what about _your_ family?" She asked innocently. "Isn't there anyone besides Keith that cares about you back on your planet?" Shiro's smile soon vanished and was replaced by pain and loss. He lowered his head sadly.

"My mother moved to the United States before I was born. She loved space as much as I do. She came here so she could train at the Garrison. My father was an American test pilot. He would fly experimental spacecraft to see if they would hold up in space. He died when testing out a space shuttle-cruiser that exploded just inside Earth's atmosphere. I was eight years old when I... watched it happen." Everyone was horrified by this news, Allura nearly cried. She couldn't imagine watching her father die right in front of her.

"I'm so sorry, Shiro." The Princess breathed, now regretting to have asked.

"But what about your mother?" Pidge asked, turning to Shiro again. "What happened to her?" Shiro's eyes closed then looked up again. The reflection of the painful memories invisibly visible in them.

"No one knows…" He sighed. "She was on a mission, much like the Kerberos mission; when she and her crew just… Vanished. And..." He trailed off, as if the words died in his throat; and a single tear slipped down his face. Keith, seeing the pain in Shiro's eyes, finished his statement.

"His mother was declared missing a couple of years after his father died, she's presumed to be dead. And with Shiro only being ten years old, was held in the custody of the Garrison barracks… until his aunt came to get him."

"My aunt took me in and took care of me until I was eighteen." Shiro managed to say. "She received a letter from my mother a couple of months before she disappeared; saying that she wanted me to go to the Garrison, since she knew I loved space travel just as much as she did. And when she disappeared the Garrison gave my aunt access to all her stuff. Including her bank accounts, and come to find out, she had been saving money in a separate account just for me. Hoping that one day when I was 'of age' I would be able to go right away."

"So?" Pidge asked in anticipation, "did it work?"

"It did actually." Shiro breathed in a half laugh. "There was enough money in the account and then some. I had plenty of money to get into their programs, any one that I wanted."

"Wait so what country did your mom come from?" Hunk asked out of curiosity.

"Not sure." Shiro shrugged. "They would never tell me. All I knew was that my mom wasn't from the U.S."

"Wait," Pidge realized. "Your full name is Takashi Shirogane, right?"

"That's right." Shiro gave her a nod. Pidge pulled something up on her screen.

"I bet if we figure out what nationality it came from we can figure that out."

"People can name their children whatever they want. It could be from any country, even if they aren't native to it." Hunk reasoned.

"Oh, you're right. Ok, well,..how about a blood sample?" Pidge suggested, "that should tell us what we want to know. Shiro?" Her eyes searched the Black Paladin's, looking for permission to continue.

"I guess it's worth a try." Shiro responded, putting his hands in the air. Allura handed Pidge what looked like an Altean version of a needle and syringe, once they took the blood sample The Green Paladin took it to a small lab near the Green Lion's bay.

After running some tests, she squinted down into the microscope and gasped.

"Um, Allura you might want to come look at this." She demeanor seemed disturbed by something.

"What is it?" Shiro asked, as Allura strode over to Pidge and peered down at the sample. Dread crept into Shiro's body like a disease, as he watched the princess's face. And when Allura looked in, she was shocked by what she saw. Her gasp, though soft, was heard by everyone. She looked at Shiro with pure shock, Shiro's eyes widening a little.

"Princess. What is it?" Coran asked, worrying about her.

"You're... you're..." Allura was frozen, not sure what to say.

"Allura, What is it?" Shiro was dreading what she was going to say. Allura shook her head, then heaved a heavy sigh to recompose herself.

"Shiro, you're not... fully human either." Everyone's eyes became wide now. "Your blood sample has revealed that you, are part… Altean."

 **Hey Shiro fans, what up! This story has no regard for the clone situation here, instead this is the real Shiro. But this story does regard the fact about Shiro's health issues revealed in season 7. This does not include Shadam, so as always there are no ships here except friendships. I will post the next chapter as soon as I get it finished. Thx!**

 **XXXX**

 **Hi guys, what's up?! As I said in _Call of the White Lion_ I will be going through and editing all of my stories. Hope you guys enjoy the improved versions! Thx!!!**


	3. Good Genes, Bad Genes

Chapter two: Good Genes, Bad Genes

Shiro nearly fell backwards, as though he'd been punched in the chest.

"Are you sure?" He didn't seem to believe it.

"Yeah, how do you know he's part Altean?" Keith questioned, not sure if he believed it himself.

"Well,.. we don't." Pidge began slowly. "But we do know he's part Japanese."

"But there are remnants of Altean DNA in Shiro's blood." Allura added.

"But how is that possible?" Shiro wondered in disbelief.

"The Galra experimented on you didn't they?" Allura recollected. "They must have used some kind of Altean biochemistry in some of their experiments."

"Can they do that?" Hunk asked.

"That would explain why Shiro's hair is white." Pidge concluded, gesturing to Shiro's floof.

"Wait, so his mother was either part Altean or completely Japanese?" Lance wondered aloud, trying to make the connections by tracing his fingers in the air.

"Well we can't say for sure, but we think Shiro is only _slightly_ Altean, because there isn't much Altean DNA that we can see." Allura explained.

"So that means, Shiro is part American, part Japanese, with a slight bit of Altean in his genes." Pidge finished.

"So what do we do about this?" Keith asked finally, looking from one person to the next.

"Nothing, I guess. We can't change it." Pidge replied, then looked at Black Paladin. "What do you think Shiro?" Shiro just shrugged, not exactly sure what to say.

"You're probably right, Pidge." He said finally. "There's really nothing we can do, and I guess I don't mind knowing that I'm part Altean, so to speak.

"And you have the Galra to thank for it." Allura smiled slightly.

"Ok, so one of us is part Galra, and one of us is part Altean?! What is it with everyone being part alien?!" Lance cried in confusion.

"I will admit this is a little strange to think about; but that should _not_ change how we think of him." Allura remarked confidently. And everyone nodded in agreement. Silence fell, as everyone immersed themselves into their own thoughts.

"So Keith," Shiro spoke up, finally breaking the silence. "What brings _you_ here?"

"Well missions have been slow, so Kolivan encouraged me to come visit you and see what's been going on around here. He's letting me stick around for awhile, and he'll contact me if he needs me." Shiro nodded thoughtfully, he turned his head to look at his friend.

"It's great to see you again." He smiled. Keith returned a smile.

"Yeah.. It's great to _be_ back." The former Paladin smiled slightly. "So what's been going on here? We haven't really kept in contact since I.. joined the Blades."

"Not much," Shiro shrugged. "Missions have been slow here too. The Galra don't seem to be quite as active lately. We're trying to figure out why, but it's taking longer than we thought."

"We've been scouting out different quadrants and tracking the Galra troops, but nothing has really stood out to us either." Keith admitted unfortunately. "We've checked out different locations, taking down these bases and freeing the people who live there; but no big important things have happened. We've had a lot of down time lately, but we've continued to monitor things in case anything changes."

"Yeah, it's getting kinda boring around here too." Lance remarked, slouching in his chair.

"I've been combing through all the Galra info we have, hoping to find any clues as to what they're up to; but nothing has stood out yet either, that I can see." Pidge said, pulling something up on her computer.

"Well, I'm gonna go make some breakfast." Hunk said finally, after another short pause, then headed out of the lab towards the kitchen.

"I'm coming with you!" Lance called, running after the Yellow Paladin.

"I'll go through and check the castle's systems, you never know when the Galra will strike again. Don't want to them to catch us off guard again." Coran said, stretching a moment before exiting the room as well.

"And while you do that, I'll go and enjoy some quality time with the mice." Allura strode for the door after him. Now only Shiro, Keith, and Pidge remained.

"Hey Shiro, wanna go do some training?" Keith asked, turning to his friend.

"Sure, maybe it'll give us time to catch up." Shiro smiled. They began walking to the door as well, when Shiro stopped and turned to look back over his shoulder. "Pidge, you coming?"

"No thanks, you guys go ahead." The Green Paladin smiles calmly. "I'm gonna stay here and analyze the sample some more if you don't mind."

"Go for it." Shiro said, returning a smile. Then he turned back and followed Keith out of the lab.

 _XXXX_

Soon Keith and Shiro were fighting off droids and practice sentries, each watching out for the other. They shielded one another from the blows of the _'enemies'_ , fighting as though they were fighting for their lives. They had just finished their third level with one final slice, and they decided to just stand there for a moment to take a break. Both bracing their hands to their knees, and hanging their heads; gasping for breath.

"So Shiro..." Keith began breathlessly, looking up at Shiro from where he was. "How.. do you really feel.. about.. being part.. Altean?"

"Well.." The Black Paladin breathed, meeting his gaze. "It's.. a little hard.. to.. get my head around.. honestly.. But.. I don't.. feel like there's.. anything wrong with it.. I mean,.. I always knew.. something.. felt different after.. escaping.. the Galra ship.. that first time."

"So.. it doesn't.. bother you?" Keith asked dynamically, remembering how shocked he was to find out that he, _himself_ , was part Galra.

"Not really." Shiro's voice suddenly jerked him back into reality. "Why?"

"Just wondering." Keith admitted. The two men stood there silently for a moment, as their breaths slowly normalized. They both jumped suddenly, when they heard a loud siren-like noise. As soon as they heard it, they looked at each other and ran to the bridge.

"Allura, Coran what's going on?!" Shiro asked urgently, as everyone came running in.

"Our scanners have picked up an intruder in the castle!!" Coran answered keeping his eyes on the screen, typing something on his control panel.

"Where are they?" Shiro declared intensely. The screen finally went up for all to see.

"Right outside that door!" Coran shrieked, glancing back towards the door.

Suddenly the door slid open, and sure enough there stood the intruder. They wore a black suit, not Marmora,.. not Galra prisoner,... not even rebel. The black armor was like nothing they'd seen, and the cloak that waterfalled over their right shoulder concealed over half their body. Who ever this cloaked stranger was, they didn't say a word.

"Who are you?!" Allura demanded. The stranger said nothing, instead they lunged at Shiro with a long blade in hand; which they pulled out from under the folds of their cloak. The stranger stabbed one, twice, three times, but Shiro dodged each attack. He used his arm to lash out at them. Lance, Keith, Pidge, and Hunk all took up their own weapons and rushed forward, but the stranger only attacked Shiro. They seemed to completely ignore the others.

"Shiro!" Keith cried, as the stranger lunged at him again, this time clipping his left shoulder with their blade. And with a final kick to the chest, Shiro landed hard on the floor to everyone's surprise,... and horror. The stranger put their foot on his chest, and Shiro grabbed it and twisted it enough to knock them on the ground. Getting to his feet, he began to walk away.

"Look out!" Lance called, as the stranger lunged at Shiro one final time. But Shiro sensed this and he swung his robotic arm back at them, at the same time as the stranger lifted their blade to Shiro's head. Everyone froze, waiting to see who would make a move next. Worried for their leader crept into their bodies and minds, as they stood there. As Shiro looked closer, he could see part of the stranger's mask had been chipped away, and a mark on their cheek was showing. Then a look of realization on his face, struck him like lightning.

"Cora?" He breathed in disbelief. The stranger instantly lowered their weapon, as if they were shocked too.

"Shiro?" The voice of a woman shocked everyone. Shiro lowered his hand, stunned by what he had heard. Then the stranger removed her mask and revealed a beautiful with dark brown hair and blue eyes. "Is that really you?" She looked as surprised as he was. Shiro remained silent, as though he were a statue. They came closer to each other until they were standing face to face. Their eyes never leaving the other's. Shiro saw a glimmer of recognition, and she saw a familiar face. Then finally they wrapped each other in a long, tight embrace.

"Oh my gosh!" The girl cried, tears pouring down her cheeks. "Ever since the Kerberos mission! They said you were dead, but I was sure that you weren't!"

"I know!" Shiro breathed, a tear slipping down his own cheek, "I've missed you so much!" Everyone else was now confused, as to who this person was. This stranger, that was once trying to kill Shiro, was now hugging him like they'd known each other for years. When they had finally broke apart, they looked each other in the eyes with pure joy. With the girl's arms resting in Shiro's, they looked around the room at the confused faces of everyone else. Keith was first to step forward.

"Shiro, I don't understand, who is this?"

"Everyone, this is Cora, she was a close friend of mine from a long time ago." Shiro replied, gesturing to the woman standing next to him. Everyone was silent, their faces still blank with confusion. Shiro was taken aback by these looks.

"What, What is it?" He asked in confusion. Keith, realizing he was also blankly staring, shook himself out of it.

"I'm sorry Shiro, it's just hard to understand."

"Uh, yeah," Lance interrupted wildly, getting in Shiro's face. "One minute she's trying to kill you and the next you're hugging her and telling us you know her?!"

"Believe me," Cora spoke up, thoughtfully. "I'm as surprised as you are. I had no idea that the Black Paladin of Voltron was my brother." At this everyone gasped.

"What?!" Hunk exclaimed. "She's your sister?!" But now even Shiro was drawing a blank.

"Shiro?" Keith asked, seeing his friend's expression.

"What are you talking about?" Shiro asked her.

Cora sighed, "they didn't tell you did they?" Her disappointment staining her face. "Our mother and father had two children. You and me."

"I... I... I don't understand, how do you know this?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Because I was there when you were born." Her eyes met his, as the memory flashed across her mind.

"But- if this is true, where were you? They told me you had moved away." Cora closed her eyes and shook her head, before lifting her gaze once more.

"Because they were protecting you from the truth." She said finally, with a grave look on her face. "If you don't believe me do a DNA test." She held out her left arm as she spoke. Everyone looked from one person to the next, and then at Shiro, waiting for a reply.

XXXX

Pidge and Hunk carefully analyzed the sample they had taken. Shiro leaned against the wall, his foot twitching uneasily. His face showed that he was still shaken by the claim that Cora had just made, just a few minutes earlier, and was wondering if she was right.

"Ok, the results are back." Pidge said, watching the screen in front of her. Shiro's heart skipped a beat, and continued to thump in his chest.

"Yeah, and it turns out she's right," Hunk added.

"I don't believe it!" Shiro breathed.

"Well believe it," Cora said, turning to face him. "I didn't move away... I was sent away... and you're not gonna believe where.."

 _XXXX_

"You came all this way to find me?" Shiro breathed; a little confused; as he took in everything she had told him that she knew.

"Yep, and when I saw the news report saying you were missing and supposedly dead. I knew I couldn't stay put knowing you were lost out there."

"But then why weren't you there? Where did you go?"

"Our parents sent me to live with our grandparents in Michigan, dad's parents, to heal from a deadly disease. I had to stay there because the climate where we lived wasn't adequate, but they couldn't afford to move the whole family, so since our grandparents already lived there they sent me there just to recover. But it ended up that I couldn't come back home, because the atmosphere of the land would bother me. Mom and Dad probably told you that, so you wouldn't worry about me. You were so young when it happened."

"But why would they hide that from me, they had time to tell me. Dad passed away the next year, and Mom was declared missing two years later. Why couldn't they have told me then?"

"I don't know, but we're here now, and I can't tell you how good it feels to have you back again." She hugged Shiro tightly, like she would never let him go; and Shiro gently returned the hug. "When you disappeared I asked for access to a ship, and somehow a close friend got me one, and I headed out into space to find you."

"But- how'd you get this far, and how'd you know where to find me?"

"Well I got to Kerberos to start my search, since that was the last place they knew you, Sam and Matt had been. When some friends we know all-too-well dropped in." Her sarcasm was highly noticeable.

"The Galra," Shiro breathed, his face full of shock and dread. Zarkon's face and memories of his time as a prisoner flashing across his mind.

"Yes," she sighed, lowering her head and closing her eyes. "And I escaped with this." She looked up, and removing her cloak, she pulled back her sleeve. Shiro was stunned to see that her arm had also been replaced with a prosthetic similar to his own. This shocked Shiro beyond words. Not only was she his sister, but she had also been broken by Galra! Suddenly there was a loud, BLAM!

 **Hey what's up Shiro fans! Just wanted to let you know that, while I do think that Shiro is the best character. I do enjoy all the characters. So if I ever sound offending about other characters, I apologize, cause that's not my intention. As I said I like all the characters, some more than others, but the writers and voice actors of the show have done an amazing job with them! And I hope you continue to Anjou my work as I I enjoy yours! Thx!**

 **XXXX**

 **Hey everybody!! Just an update! This chapter has been edited only. No major plot points have been changed, but I hope this polished version makes for a better read than the first one. Also I just so you guys know, the differnet backstories that are presented here; are based on some old theories I'd had. But clearly since then with all the seasons that came after season three or four(not sure which;)); my theories have either been destroyed by cannon(which many of them I'm ok with) or were replaced with better ones that make more sense. Anyway lemme know what'you think! Enjoy!! Thx!!!**


	4. Blindsided

Chapter three: Blindsided

The ground jolted under everyone's feet, nearly knocking them over.

"Woah, what was that?!" Lance cried, laying face down over his chair's arms.

"Let's take a look," Coran replied, scurrying to his control panel, as another blast shook the ground. And when the screen popped up, everyone developed a look of shock and worry. Cora froze, emotions rushing through her body all at once.

"They found me!" She breathed.

"What?!" Coran turned around.

"I was sent by my Galra masters to kill the Black Paladin of Voltron." Cora explained regrettably. "I was forced against my will. I-.." Her rambling explanation was halted after, yet another, blast; and Coran put the particle barrier up and took off.

"They've been following me for a while now." Cora explained. "They must've tracked me here." Her bit her lip. "I made a huge mistake coming here."

"It doesn't matter now," Shiro told her, adopting his confident leader voice, which they'd all heard many times before. "We're here now. Let's focus on getting these guys off our tails. We need to figure out how they tracked you here and stop it. Allura open up a wormhole to distance ourselves from the Galra, that'll give us time to figure something out." Cora's eyebrows furrowed across her face, as Allura headed to the teludav.

"It doesn't matter." The young woman's gaze dropped to the floor. "Even if we wormhole away, they _always_ find their way back. I've been trying everything to figure out how they're tracking me. It's no good. Nothing I've done has worked."

"That's not true. There _has_ to be a way,.. I can feel it." Shiro placed his hands on the sides of her shoulders. "We'll figure this out." Everyone jolted, as they got blasted again; a blast that _did_ knock everyone down this time.

"We have to get out of here! We can't take another shot like that!" Allura remarked urgently, sweat beginning to form on her brow.

"Everyone, get to your lions," Shiro instructed. "We'll try to slow the Galra ships down if we can. Coran, be ready to wormhole once we give you the all clear." As the other Paladins headed toward their lions, he turned to his sister before continuing. "Cora, keep trying to figure out how they are tracking you. Coran can help if he can. And we'll all be on our coms. We're here to help you,... no matter what it takes."

"I'll try." She sighed reluctantly, dropping her shoulders awkwardly and nodding slightly. Then Shiro headed for the Black lion. Keith dashed to his ship.

"I'm coming with you; to give you some backup!" He decided.

"Keith, are you sure?" Shiro's eyebrows lifted, amazed that he was willing to dive right in so quickly.

"Yes, I want to help you out there." Keith insisted. Shiro smiled thoughtfully.

"Alright then. Let's clear us a path!" The lions shot from their bays and Keith's ship followed close behind.

As soon as they were out, they scattered taking out fighters and blasting cruisers. Cora remained standing next to Coran at the controls; racking her brain for ideas and listing the possibilities in her mind. Then she remembered what Shiro had said; her eyes lighting up at the realization.

"When I escaped from the Galra couple of years ago, I felt different… not myself. Like they had warped my brain or rigged my hand or something."

"Perhaps they developed some sort of psychic link similar the one Zarkon had with the Black Lion." Suggested Allura, diving away from a blast sent her way.

"Maybe, but they don't usually do that with their prisoners cause they don't expect to lose them." Shiro reasoned, thinking back to his time as a prisoner. "And most of them don't have any important information to divulge."

"Exactly, so unless I had something of value to them they wouldn't want to psychically track me."

"Maybe they installed some sort of hard-to-detect tracker or something." Hunk thought out loud.

"The Galra aren't that low tech." Pidge reminded him.

"They're much smarter than that too." Allura put in.

"Maybe they administered a program into your arm that gives them a traceable signal." Pidge finally realized, yanking the handles about to make an attack. "After all their computers still seem to recognize Shiro at times. They must have a code system for their test subjects, in order to keep them organized."

"I guess that would make sense. But wouldn't that be too easy?" Cora pointed out, thinking with her arms crossed loosely in front of her body.

"Not unless they installed an encrypted algorithm stored in a digital Trojan horse; shrouded in random code to cover their tracks." Pidge explained, giving Lance and the Blue Lion a shower of covering fire.

"Then that's where we need to look." Shiro concluded decisively, barrel rolling through the debris of the cruiser he'd just destroyed. "Pidge, can you hack into the prosthetic arm's mainframe and find the tracker?"

"I can try, but I'll need to use the info from your arm to do it." Pidge responded.

"Ok, then we need to wormhole away." Shiro stated. "But we're not getting very far as individuals. I think it's time to form Voltron!"

As soon as Voltron emerged, they began taking out ship after ship, but getting blasted from all sides was hard to avoid. After another hit, they spun off just to the left side of the castle. And when they recovered themselves a Galra cruiser shot its ion cannon. Voltron dodged it quickly and Shiro called for the sword to slice through it. Then he called for the shoulder cannon, which took out several hundred of the many fighters, blasting them to pieces.

"That'll work, let's get out of here!" Shiro called, as they split back into lions and headed toward the ship. "Nice work, everyone. Now let's get back to the ship. Coran, prepare to wormhole." Out of the corner of his eye, Keith, who had been fighting alongside Voltron this entire time, caught sight of a single cruiser that they had missed. And he somehow saw the invisible trail with which they planned to fire, with the ion cannon.

"Shiro!" He cried. "Incoming!" He pushed his ship faster; encouraging the lions to do the same as the ion cannon fired. The lions scattered to avoid the blast. But the Black lion veered slightly to look back, just in time to receive the blast to the head!

"Shiro!" Keith screamed, his pupils shrinking.

As the blast flashed across the lion's face, the extreme light it gave off nearly wiped Shiro out! An electricity-like energy surged through Shiro's and the Black Lion's bodies; as he struggled to hold on. It shorted out and the lion's eyes went dark, as it floated seemingly lifeless.

"No!" Everyone cried at once.

"The Black lion's out, Shiro's in trouble! We've got to get him out of here!" Keith called from his ship.

"I got it!" Hunk called, jetting the Yellow lion over to Black and retreating with the others.

"Coran," Allura instructed over the com. "You've got to open up a wormhole now!"

"Yes, Princess!" Coran responded, jumping in action. And when the wormhole opened everyone dove into it, leaving the Galran wreckage behind.

 _XXXX_

They landed the castle on a quiet moon, laying the Black lion down in its bay. As Keith ran, he couldn't help silently pray; _please don't disappear this time, please don't disappear this time_. Everyone hurried into it to find Shiro passed out in the cockpit. Keith breathed a secretive sigh of relief, _he didn't disappear this time_ , he thought to himself.

"Shiro?" He placed a hand on the older man's shoulder and shook it gently as he spoke, hoping to rouse him. No response, Shiro didn't move a muscle,... he didn't even flinch. Cora's eyes glazed over in fear; becoming slightly moist. Allura lowered her head in concern, then looked up as a shadow of determination suddenly cast itself over her face.

"We've got to get him to the castle infirmary immediately, to figure out what happened." She declared.

"What is there to figure out?" Lance protested helplessly. "He got blasted with an alien weapon. What more could there possibly be?"

"The ion cannon is a powerful and dangerous weapon." Allura explained. "And we don't know all it can do,... or what effect it has on living things." She glanced down at Shiro's still face. "We need to figure that out, so we can find a way to wake him up."

"Then let's go." Keith answered, pulling Shiro's left arm over his shoulder and heaved him up out of the seat. Cora, looking sheepish, took Shiro's other arm and supported him from the other side.

 _XXXX_

They had laid Shiro on an examination table in a small room just off to the side of the circle of pods. Pidge, Hunk, and Allura attached sensors and monitors to Shiro and a couple machines around him. Pidge studied one of the computers next to the bed, trying to make sense of the incident; as she observed the readings that panned across the screen.

"The effects seem to be temporary, so he's stabilizing, even now. He should regain consciousness any time now." The Green Paladin sighed with relief. "I think the blast was simply too powerful for him and the Black lion to handle."

"Well at least that's good... right?" Cora asked anxiously.

"We're not entirely certain, but it's looking that way." Allura commented hopefully. Shiro made a sighing noise for the first time since they'd rescued him, and a sense of relief washed over them.

"Even if we don't see it," Cora began, her eyes never leaving her motionless brother. "I can't help but feel like something is happening..."

 _Shiro felt lost in his own mind. It was dark, as if he were in a dark room that went on forever. When suddenly an image appeared before him. He saw himself, he was with his father and mother. Cora was there was there as well, and they were all hugging each other. Everyone was smiling, and from the look of it; Shiro was about six at the time. It was almost a year and a half before Cora got sick and moved away. He remembered that day. They were having a picnic in their favorite park and enjoying the bright, fresh, summer air._

 _Suddenly, more images began to pop up. Each of them happy. They began with the first picture and went in order from there. Until those happy memories became sad and terrifying ones. Memories of his father's death and his mother's disappearance, and his experiences with the Galra came flooding back to him. With each step he took down the long line of memories, he grew sadder and sadder. Remembering the fear and anger he felt during these times, made him almost want to cry. But he didn't, he just kept walking. Then he saw pictures from the last couple of hours. Nearly attacking Keith, discovering he was part Altean, reuniting with Cora and finding out they were related. The pressure was so thick was like someone had set 500 lb. weights on his shoulders. He fell to his knees, not sure what to do. He cried out as if someone were to hear him, he threw his head up into the air. And at that moment, he was shocked back into reality…_

He shot upright scaring everyone around him. He was so paralyzed by fear that when they touched him, he instinctively lashed out at them; as if they were an enemy.

"Shiro!" Keith cried, trying to talk him down. "It's us!" Shiro froze, and suddenly he was longer shielded from reality.

"Keith?" Shiro responded breathlessly. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here." Keith put a hand gently on his left arm. Shiro looked in his direction, his eyes looking shockingly different.

"Um, Shiro are you ok?" Lance asked curiously, everyone staring at him with puzzled looks.

"Where is everyone? And... why is it so dark in here?" Shiro asked, squinting around, as if he were looking for something. Pidge and Allura looked at each other, then the Green Paladin took out a small pen light and shined it in Shiro's eyes; to which he didn't even flinch.

"Shiro." Pidge asked questioningly. "What do you see?" Shiro shrugged helplessly.

"Nothing." After a moment his face lit up, then softened again. "Pidge, am I..." He trailed off before finishing his thought, his face becoming unfortunate.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Keith asked frantically; growing panic making his heart begin to race.

"No." Hunk gasped, realizing the situation now too. "It couldn't be. Could it?"

"What? Couldn't be what?!" Cora asked desperately, her hands beginning to tremble anxiously.

"It can't be?!" Coran gasped. Both Keith and Cora's eyes darted from one person to the another. The pressure weighed so thick on them, that they thought they were going to be crushed in the next few seconds. A terrible pressure tore at Cora's heartstrings, and dread and fear crept into Keith; it was like something was clawing its way into his body.

"It is," Allura said gravely, she lowered her head and closed her eyes; as she uttered those words two words. Then she looked up again to finish with... "Shiro is blind."

 **Hey what's up Shiro fans! Hope you're enjoying this story! And here's to hoping that many more like it! Thx, so much for following my stories! More chapters are on the way so stay hyped folks!**

 _ **XXXX**_

 **Another chapter edited!!! This story was one of my favorite stories and remains so. And I hope you guys will enjoy it, in its newer form, as I did when editing/writing it!! Thx!!!**


	5. Hidden Solutions

Chapter four: Hidden Solutions

Keith and Cora were frozen in their tracks, neither one believing what they had just heard.

But before they could do anything, another blast hit the castle again and they were all sent back; Shiro nearly falling off the bed.

"Sounds like their back!" Shiro remarked, looking up towards the sound.

"We've got to lose them again." Allura cried, dashing out of the room.

"Allura's right, we've got to get away from them." Shiro carefully slid down off the bed and headed for the door. He wasn't completely straight, and he hit the doorpost with his forehead.

"Shiro." Keith began calmly. "Maybe you should stay here." He took Shiro's left arm and carefully guided him away from the wall and led him down the hall to the bridge.

"What are you talking about? I'm still a part of this team." Shiro protested.

"Yes, but you can't see a thing. You can't even see your own hand in front of your face. It's too dangerous." Keith insisted.

"I agree." Cora put in firmly. "You're staying here, if I have to strap you down myself."

"Besides, we'll need you to sever the connection of that tracker." Pidge informed him. "If I take it down, we may have a better chance of escaping without them finding us again."

"Ok. Pidge, you stay here and help figure out how to deactivate that tracker." Keith decided, earning him a compliant nod from the Green Paladin. "Everyone else get to the lions, try to draw their fire and take as much of the fleet out as you can." Shiro turned in Keith's direction, much to the younger man's surprise. He had been sitting in his chair this whole time and Keith had stepped back. "Keith, take he Black Lion."

"What? Me?" Keith gasped, blindsided by this. "But I'm not the leader anymore,... you are."

"I know, but without the Black lion, we can't form Voltron and I have the feeling we may need it again." Keith's eyes darted to the right, then down to the left.

"But aren't you afraid I'll mess up your connection with the Black lion again?"

"Keith, I know you left team Voltron because you didn't feel cut out for it." Shiro encouraged. "But the Black Lion has chosen you before. And it had a purpose for it all along. You need to push past the fear, for your team. The Black Lion wouldn't choose someone it didn't think was worthy of piloting it."

"But- Shiro I'm not a part of his team anymore."

"Keith, you may have gone off to join the Blade Of Marmora, but you've never stopped being apart of this team." Shiro smiled tenderly at Keith; seeing this he felt a little better.

"Alright," he said, dropping his head and closing his eyes. "I'll give it a try." He began walking out the door to get to the hanger.

"And Keith." Shiro called one last time. Keith stopped and turned around; and Shiro peered around at the door. "Your connection with the Black Lion is still there... I can't feel it." Keith gave a slight smile.

"I hope you're right." he said, and continued out the door. The Blue, Yellow, and Red lions had already launched and headed into battle. It felt like deja vu again... except Shiro.

As Keith took his place inside the Black Lion's cockpit, he remembered what Shiro had told him. He gently grasped the handles, he and instantly felt anxious. Maybe it was because he hadn't flown the Black Lion since he'd left for the Blade of Marmora, or maybe it was because he was afraid to lead again. Perhaps he was afraid that _when_ or _if_ he connected with the lion again, it would ruin Shiro's connection with it… _Again!_ This could easily be his worst nightmare come true; especially given how he left things with the team all that time ago. Many thoughts and fears raced through his head. Keith breathed in hard, trying to focus. Exhaling, a little more relaxed, he tried to connect with the lion. _Patience… Yields… Focus..._ And after a few moments, the control panels began to light up. Keith smiled, but still held onto this concern deep down inside of him. As he flew the lion out to join the battle, he saw flashbacks of his time as leader without Shiro. He gripped the controls nervously. His whole body tense, but after one blast by the Galra; he was jolted from his fear and back into reality. Only, then, did he join in the fighting.

Pidge had Shiro sitting in his chair with Cora on a bench right next to him, connecting a cable between the two of them. One end in Shiro's arm, the other in Cora's.

"Ok, it's all hooked up, now since I'm already connected to Shiro's arm. I'll use it to search for the tracker." Pidge said finally. She tapped away at her computer trying to gain access to the programs of Cora's prosthetic. "I'm in!" She said, as the screen lit up.

"Nice work, Pidge." Shiro praised. "Now all we need to do is take out that tracker's program." Shiro then turned toward the main screen. "Team, how ya holding up?"

"We're doing great, we've almost got their ships taken out." Keith responded, dodging another blast.

"Good, we're almost done here. We'll let you know, as soon as the tracker's signal goes down."

"Copy that, standing by." The screen blinked for a moment, before Pidge spotted what they were looking for.

"Ha, gotcha." She breathed happily, to herself. As she worked, Shiro couldn't help but feel kind of separated from the action. Though he could hear what was going on, his sight was pitch black. It was as if someone had recorded a battle, but forgot to video tape it. He felt as though his lack of sight had distanced him from everything going on somehow. He even felt distanced from the rest of the team, as though he was trapped in some sort of Limbo. A world between worlds. It felt... empty and lonely, and Shiro could feel a sense of fear and past emotions bubbling back up again. He started seeing past memories again, but tried to fight it. Remembering the sights and sounds of his past, and hearing the voices of his past and present all at once was beginning to get to him. He felt his heart begin to thump in his chest, as if it were to burst out of his chest. He felt a rush of adrenaline flash through him. The adrenaline seemed to last forever. And by this time, he was hoping someone would come and zap him out of what seemed, to him, like a living nightmare. But no one came. His heart cried out for help but now one seemed to hear him, and though his eyes were open and he was awake, it felt like he was having one of his nightmares in his sleep. _Please_! He begged to no one in particular. _Wake me! WAKE ME!_ His mind was crying out, but his lips couldn't seem to make the words. Suddenly a pain in his right arm zapped him out of the trance he appeared to be in. Another shock shot up his arm and back again, making him flinch.

"Pidge! What's going on?" Shiro asked, as he got shocked again. The Green Paladin looked up from her computer, with wide eyes.

"Why? What's wrong? Are you ok?" Another shock made Shiro jump, it was more intense than the others.

"Shiro!" Cora nearly jumped out of her seat.

"Hang on." Pidge answered determinedly returning to her computer. "I'll figure out what's going on."

"Couldn't we just disconnect the cable?" Cora suggested innocently. Shiro reached over across his body to unplug the cable. But when he touched it, electricity shot through his body.

"Shiro!" Cried Cora and Pidge together both jumping to their feet. Cora was about to step in to help Shiro, but Pidge cut her off.

"No don't touch him or you'll get shocked too." She quickly took out her bayard and shot it at the cable ending; slicing it. The electricity died down and Shiro was able to relax. Sparks flickers from the severed cable. Shiro's breathing began to stabilize.

"Shiro?" Pidge laid a hand on his shoulder and shook it gently. Shiro turned toward her slowly.

"It's ok." Shiro responded breathlessly. "I'm ok."

"Ok, good." Pidge nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. Then she strode around the chair to get a better look at Shiro's arm. The cable's connection port was still in the arm and scorch marks were visible around it. The cable had stopped sparking, but was also scorched.

"The tracker." Shiro remembered. "Did it work?" Pidge checked her computer.

"Yes, the tracker is down, she's free." Cora's lit up at this, the thought of being free was a substantial weight off her shoulders.

"Thank you so much." Cora said thankfully, trying to hide her fear and worry for Shiro.

"And as for your arm, Shiro." Pidge continued, taking another look at it. "I don't think there's any damage and we can clean it up easily. I'll take a look at it again in a minute."

"Ok." Shiro sighed. "Thanks, Pidge." He then turned toward the big screen. "Team… how's it going?"

"More fighters and cruisers just showed up, but we're handling it." Keith responded, he'd noticed a strange tone in Shiro's voice. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah." Shiro breathed, trying to sound convincing. "I'm good, it's nothing."

"Ok." Keith replied, trying to disguise the suspicion in his voice. He pushed the Black Lion forward again into battle, taking out one ship after another.

"The tracker is deactivated." Pidge called over the com. "We're ready to get out of here!"

"Copy that, we're almost done here. As soon as we're clear, open up a wormhole." Keith instructed.

"You got it!" Cora said, from where she knelt next to Shiro, who was relaxed in his chair; but was clearly not feeling well.

"Shiro." Cora's fear tightening it's hold on her, as she slipped her hand into his and laid the other hand on top of it. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah." Shiro breathed, opening his eyes slowly. "I'll be ok." Though he was trying to reassure her, it didn't seem to help. She couldn't help, but feel a nabbing feeling in her chest.

"Ok, we're ready, open up a wormhole." Keith called finally.

"Alright here we go!" Called Coran as the wormhole opened and they all dove into it.

 _XXXX_

The rest of the Paladins finally strode back into the bridge. Pidge and Cora were tending to Shiro. The color had almost fully returned to his face and his eyes were looking a bit brighter now. Cora was handing him something to drink when they arrived.

"Nice work everyone." Keith commented lightly.

"Yeah, almost felt like old times!" Lance remarked, recalling the times they'd had when Keith was a Paladin. Shiro sighed gently and everyone looked up; it seemed even the smallest sound from him would get everyone's attention instantly. Keith saw how disturbed Cora seemed and knew something was up. He strode up as Pidge spoke.

"The tracker is down and Cora is safe, they shouldn't be able to find us now." She said.

"That's good." Keith remarked, then turning his attention to Shiro. "Are you ok?" He placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm ok." Shiro responded, lifting his right arm to place his hand on top of Keith's; and Keith noticed the slight remnants of scorching on it, mostly hidden by the shadow of his forearm.

"What happened?" Keith asked glancing at Pidge and Cora. The two girls looked at each other questioningly, searching each other for how to answer; wondering if they should say. "What?" Keith persisted.

"Well.." Pidge began with a sigh. "There was an interesting reaction to the tracker program."

"What do you mean?" Allura questioned, slowly becoming concerned.

"Well I had started interfacing with the tracker program, when some.. energy seemed to attack Shiro through his arm."

"What kind of energy?" Keith questioned as his worry increased.

"It seemed like some sort of protection mechanism built into my arm's programming that protects against someone trying to tap into the system." Cora explained taking a guess of her own.

"It came in the form of shockwaves from one arm to the other." Pidge added. "Shiro.. kinda got zapped when trying to disconnect the cable."

"And what damage did it do to Shiro?" Lance demanded, trying to conceal his own concern.

"Thankfully, it doesn't appear to have done _anything_ to him. He seems fine." Cora responded calmly.

"I'll take a closer look, but I think she's right." Pidge reassured them.

"Ok, I'll help you get settled." Keith said, helping Shiro to his feet and leading him after Pidge, Cora, and Allura.

Though everything was pitch black, Shiro knew exactly where he was in the castle by the sounds of it and also... he was keeping track of which direction they went from the bridge. When they turned the final corner into the Altean lab once again, Keith helped Shiro get up onto the bed. It felt like deja vu for everyone… even for Shiro this time, despite his lack of sight. As the three girls started their work, Keith took a step back from Shiro as if to leave. He stood there, still as a statue. He wanted to leave, but at the same time wanted to stay and keep an eye on Shiro and how he was doing. Worry and fear and confusion filled his head, as thoughts raced through his mind; and somehow at the same time, so was Shiro's. Keith thought about the last few hours, wondering where this situation was going to go next. It seemed like this whole thing was beginning to spiral out of control. He wondered how this was going to end and feared the worst. Nothing could have prepared him for coming back to team Voltron like this. He feared that the Black Lion would again refuse Shiro as its Paladin; because he, himself, had reconnected with it. He feared that Shiro would be blind forever and couldn't imagine what Shiro's life would be like that way. _How could he be the head of Voltron?_ He thought to himself. _And without the Black lion, they can't form Voltron. And I won't be around all the time. We already know how that went_.

Shiro's thoughts were all over the map as well. He, too, wondered what would become of him. _How can I be a paladin if Voltron? I can't be a leader like this_. He thought hopelessly. _And who else would lead it if I can't? What would be the point of me being here, if I can't contribute to the team? And what about Keith?_ He thought about Cora, it hadn't fully sunk in that she was his older sister. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. Anger never crossed his mind, not even for a second. He was surprised and interested, but wasn't sure whether he liked it or not. But the more he thought about it, it seemed to feel more and more right to him. _Well I guess I'll have to get used to it_. He reasoned, _besides she's all the family I have left that I know of_. A smile slightly surfaced but no one saw because they were so immersed in their own tasks. Keith finally shook himself back into reality and started for the door.

"I'm heading to the training deck." He stated, as he moved.

"Ok." Shiro replied, making Keith stop in his tracks. "Train hard. I know how tense you can get under pressure." Keith clenched his fist resting on the door frame, and walked briskly away. He didn't even look back, he feared if he did he would cry. The pain stung him right in the heart, he couldn't bare to stick around any longer.

 _XXXX_

A sentry lunged forward at him, Keith sprang into action defending himself before throwing a blow himself. The Black Bayard felt good in his hands, though he was trying not to get too used to it again. He had only borrowed it for a little while. The sentry came again and again, Keith defended and attacked. But his emotions were still bottled up inside him. So many he didn't want to feel, but ones he was trying to hide so no one would see. He half blamed himself, but also half knew that is wasn't true. He felt sad, scared, concerned, worried, anxious, and terrified all at once. And he tried as hard as he could to keep from expressing it. But as he fought the sentry, it became harder and harder to hold it back. He began to get frustrated and more anxious. The sentry knocked away his weapon, and he could not stop himself. He threw himself onto the sentry slamming it to the ground. He punched again and again and again and again, almost like he wasn't going to stop. When the sentry was destroyed, it disappeared as if into thin air leaving Keith alone on his knees. Tears streamed down his face, like a dam that had burst into a flood. He put his hands on the back of his head, as he bent over to press his forehead to the floor; resting his elbows next to it. His silent sobs echoed slightly around the empty room.

 _XXXX_

Hunk was watching Lance play the video game from the space mall, both were silent until one of them became bored with the silence.

"So.. how do you think Shiro's holding up?" The Yellow Paladin asked innocently. Lance didn't answer, he tried to act like he was only focused on the game. He found he didn't want to think about Shiro.

"Do you think he'll ever see again?" Hunk began to pry. Lance heaved a huge sigh. He knew he wasn't going to stop asking, but he still tried to act as though he wasn't concerned.

"He'll probably be fine." He commented dryly.

"Yeah, I know, but what if...what if he isn't, you know, like what if he never sees again. What does that mean for us? For the coalition? For the universe? Shiro's been in the center of this war, before he was even a Paladin of Voltron. His history with the Galra has connected him to this in more ways than the rest of us combined."

"I'm sure Pidge's got this." Lance's eyes never left the screen for a second. "And with Cora and Allura to help her, I'm sure they'll figure out how to fix it."

"Yeah." Hunk breathed, feeling a little reassured. "I hope you're right, man." And Lance secretly hoped so too.

 _XXXX_

Shiro lay still in the table, it felt like they'd been there for hours and he was exhausted. The day had been very unusual. He wondered if this nightmare would ever end. Wishing he could close his eyes and see things get better, he just lay there quietly.

"How's it going, Pidge." He asked softly.

"Haven't seen anything yet, hang in there." Pidge responded. Though she was busy running diagnostics and tests, she couldn't help but be in her own world of thought too. She, too, was worried for Shiro, but still felt responsible somehow and wanted more then ever to be able to fix it. And she wasn't going to give up until she did. The thought of team Voltron without Shiro, was too horrible to think about. She remembered all the talks they'd had together about her family. She knew how much he loved his crew. Her father and Matt would tell stories about Shiro and the journeys they'd gone on together; and all the fun they'd had. She recalled when they had first started with Voltron. Rescuing the aliens that were Shiro, Sam, and Matt's fellow prisoners, and the information they'd gotten from them. She remembered when Shiro explained to her why he injured her brother before the fight against Myzax, and how relieved she was to know this. She thought about all Shiro had gone through, all that the Galra had put him through. All they had done to him. She couldn't even begin to imagine some of the things he may have seen. And she didn't want to think of them. And though his robotic arm was pretty cool, the fact that his real arm was no longer attached was an unsettling thought to think about. She couldn't imagine what that was like to watch as his arm being taken off right in front of him, and could do nothing to stop it. It was an unthinkably horrible thing to imagine.

Allura had thoughts of her own, as everyone did. She wondered how, after all she had experienced with the Galra, what Shiro's experience was like. She couldn't help going back to when she had first met everyone, and was told that Shiro had been Zarkon's prisoner just before they found the Blue Lion on Earth. She tried to imagine what happened to Shiro during this time, and also the _second_ time he was captured; but couldn't seem to picture it. She knew the Galra as a peaceful race until the war broke out. And when her father was killed by Zarkon, she had already been put in stasis. All she had to go on was the ro-beasts: Haggar's Monsters, Galran weapons and prosthetics, and Shiro's arm. All of these would give her an idea, but not a very clear one. She was almost frustrated by knowing, maybe she couldn't actually help him.

A nabbing stabbing pain gripped Cora with an iron fist, unrelenting and impossible to escape. Today was making out to be a really Bad day, not only is Shiro blind. But he may have been seriously hurt from electricity, either that or his arm is more damaged than they think. She almost didn't want to find out. She was afraid he was seriously hurt, and couldn't imagine what that would mean. Her younger brother that she had left behind so many years ago. It killed her not being able to stay in contact with him as a child, but then to finally find him and almost get him killed. It was almost too horrible to think about! She couldn't bare to stay if something serious was wrong with him. Especially if Shiro was going to be blind for the rest of his life. The news would be the worst possible thing she could ever hear.

Pidge's scanners were getting readings from the new cable plugged into his arm. Shiro's still body relaxed, and his eyelids dropped over his eyes a little.

"I'm not getting anything out of the ordinary." Pidge remarked, taking another look.

"I'm not getting anything either." Allura agreed.

"Yeah... me neither." Cora said softly, her eyes traveling to the right and then down to the floor.

"We should take a break for a while." Pidge suggested. "You get some rest Shiro, we'll come back to this later." She put a hand on his shoulder as she spoke.

"Ok." Shiro responded, giving nod without opening his eyes. Then everyone left the room and Pidge shut off the light.

 **Hey guys crazy enough, I've been able to release a chapter every day, but I hope you guys are still liking it. As always, leave a review on your thoughts and ideas, I would love to hear what you guys had to say!**

 ** _XXXX_**

 **Hi guys, just another updated chapter!! Hope you guys enjoy it! Thx!!!**


	6. Nightmare within a Nightmare

Chapter five: Nightmare within a Nightmare

Keith strode down the hall toward the bridge, he had composed himself enough to go back to the others and see if Shiro was ok. He wasn't sure why he was going to the bridge, when he knew where Shiro _actually_ was. It was like his mind was on Shiro, but his feet were on another mission entirely. As he neared the bridge, Lance and Hunk joined him from another hallway. Coran met them at the door coming from the opposite direction. _It's amazing how everyone has the same idea at the same time around here_ , Keith thought to himself. Allura, Pidge and Cora were all standing at the center of the room near the teludav when they entered.

"How's Shiro?" Keith asked right away, not seeing him.

"He's stable for now. We didn't find anything, but we'll take another look later." Allura explained.

"He's resting now, probably sleeping," Pidge added.

"So you didn't find anything?" Keith wondered. The three women shook their heads.

"At least nothing out of the ordinary." Allura continued. "But as I said, we'll take another look later, once he's had time to rest for awhile." Allura responded.

Keith's gaze lowered, "ok." Silence fell for what seemed like an eternity, each person lost in their own thoughts. When Hunk's voice sliced through the silence.

"So,.. what now?"

"I'm not sure." Allura sighed, lowering her gaze as well. "So much has happened today. I do wonder when it will end. And _how_ it will end."

"Do you think... Shiro will be ok?" Pidge asked, a slight emphasis of uncertainty and worry in her tone.

"I...I don't know." Allura said, lowering her head and closed her eyes. "All we can do is search for an answer and wait to see if our efforts will do anything. Otherwise there's not much more we can do."

"Oh come on, of course he's gonna be alright!" Hunk decided, standing up abruptly. "I mean he's, Shiro! Our leader; he's gone through way worse and come out ok. Right?" Everyone was silent, a couple of them squirmed in the awkwardness. It became very uncomfortable in that moment for Cora; to the point where she almost couldn't take it.

 _XXXX_

Shiro lay alone in the dark, his body-somewhat-motionless, but his mind remained a busy metropolis. Thoughts of the past, present and future whirled around his mind. Echoes of voices and sounds rang out, like ghosts from his past; with Galra memories scattered throughout. And in a flash, he could see! He looked from one side of the room to the other.

"What?- Where?" He stuttered in confusion, _how is it that he can all of a sudden see again? Was he truly with the Galra again? How would he have gotten here? The last thing he remembered, was Pidge telling him to get some rest and then leaving the room. How is it that he is here?_ Still hearing the echoes, he sat up on the table he was laying on. He suddenly realized that he wasn't strapped down like usual, which confused him greatly. _The Galra weren't known to forget something like that_. He slid off the table. His knees buckled under him and he hit the floor. Picking himself back up off the ground, he felt dizzy; though this had become very familiar to him somehow. He headed out of the Galra lab and across what looked like a ballroom, _but why would a ballroom be next to a lab?_ Shiro was too frazzled to think too deeply on this, as he stumbled on down the long hallway; stopping occasionally in expectation of sentries to be walking by. But no one came, so he kept going.

 _XXXX_

An alarm went off on the bridge, startling everyone in the room. Lance screamed and tumbled from his chair.

"What is that?!" Cried Lance, picking himself off the floor, and rubbing the back of his neck. Coran rushed to his controls and pressed a bunch of buttons. "I'm detecting movement in the castle." He reported simply.

"From what?" Allura asked urgently.

"Putting it up now." Coran responded. And when the screen lit up, to everyone's surprise there was Shiro stumbling down, yet another, hallway.

"It's Shiro!" Keith gasped, surprise flashing across his face.

"What is he doing?" Pidge wondered aloud, noticing a strangeness to his movements.

"Only one way to find out!" Lance replied, determinedly dashing for the door. "Come on!"

 _XXXX_

Shiro nearly fell again coming around, yet another corner. He glanced down the hall,.. no one there. _Where are all the sentries?_ He wondered. Though he reminded himself that it was a good thing. But he couldn't help feeling something was wrong here.

 _XXXX_

The Paladins rushed down a hallway nearing where they had seen Shiro. Coran still remained on the bridge watching Shiro on the screen.

"What?" Keith gasped breathlessly, bursting around a corner and screeching to a halt. "He.. was right here?"

"Did you really think he was going to stay in one place?" Allura replied sarcastically.

"Head down the hallway to your left!" Coran instructed. "He's not far from you."

As everyone took off, they slowly began to hear him fumbling about ahead of them. Keith flew around the corner.

"Shiro!" He cried, seeing his friend walking gingerly away from them. Shiro turned around, having heard his name; but he was surprised to finally see a Galra sentry with a blaster pointed in his direction. _It was about time they'd seen him_ , one after another until six sentries stood before him. He wondered what had taken them so long to find him, and how they knew his name. They had never done this before. They began to come closer and he panicked lunging forward in an attack.

Keith dodged the blow sent in his direction.

"Woah! Shiro... wait! It's me?" Keith dove away when Shiro lashed out again and again, as if trying to escape them. Shiro then lunged at Pidge, who avoided the blow and rolled to the ground.

"Pidge!" Keith exclaimed in horror. _Why is he doing this?_ He thought rushing to help the Green Paladin. Shiro raised his robot arm to slice down at her, but Keith caught it with his Marmora Blade. Fear burned in Shiro's eyes, and Keith could feel this fear reaching out to scorch his own. His own fear gripped at him, like his suit to his body. Shiro shifted his weight and Keith slowly sank down almost to the ground. Pidge scrambled to her feet, and using her bayard, she shot it at him. But somehow, Shiro moved just as it was about to wrap around him. Allura and Lance came from opposite sides toward Shiro hoping to take him by surprise, but Shiro saw two Galra soldiers trying to ambush him. He put both his arms up at a right angle in front of his body. And as soon as they touched him, he used their momentum to swing them around and hit the wall opposite the one they'd come from. They both landed hard and groaned at the dizziness that ensued. When Keith and Pidge rushed toward Shiro, Hunk went to help the others.

"You guys ok?" He asked, helping Lance to his feet.

"Yeah." Lance sighed, still shaken from the fall. "I don't understand. Why is Shiro attacking us?"

"I wish I knew, but we have to keep trying to snap him out of it!" Allura encouraged, taking off again.

"Shiro stop this!" Cora called. She came up behind him as she spoke, and laid one hand on his shoulder and the other on his wrist. But Shiro immediately struck her in the chest, which sent her back; hitting the cold, hard ground. She was stunned by the blow; and everyone else stood there in their battle stance above her, facing Shiro.

"We can't use our blasters and our fighting tactics aren't working!" Hunk gasped helplessly. "How _else_ can we beat him?!"

"We don't need to _beat_ him, we just need to _immobilize_ him." Pidge corrected. "Maybe then we can figure out a way to calm him down." As the team moved, the sentries came closer… Too close for Shiro's comfort. And then… one of the sentries somehow suddenly morphed into Sendak! And another Haggar, and another Zarkon! _Where are they all coming from!_ His thoughts screamed so loud, he was afraid they would hear them.

"You won't get away with this, Sendak!" Shiro spat threateningly, at Lance.

"Sendak?" Lance adopted a confused and astonished look at this reaction. Keith stepped closer, and Shiro responded with...

"If you want the Black lion, you can't have it!" Allura swung her bayard at him, making him step back a couple paces.

"I'm not your weapon to command, witch!" He lunged at them again. His body firing on all cylinders in his attack. Keith instinctively raised his blade to deflect the attack, and the amount of force from it; knocked them all down. And with that Shiro stumbled hastily away.

As everyone recovered themselves off the hard floor, they heard Coran's voice over the com.

"Is everyone alright?"

"I think so, but I think my bruises have bruises." Lance answered painfully.

"I've never seen Shiro fight like that before." Keith remarked uneasily, pushing himself up to all fours.

"Nor have I," Allura sighed worriedly.

"It is a very different reaction than what we're used to, but at least I think I know what's going on now." Pidge noted optimistically. Everyone blinked blankly at her, so she went on to explain.

"I think Shiro is experiencing a living nightmare."

"What?" Lance responded, eyebrows raised questioningly.

"What do you mean?" Cora wondered, unsure of its accuracy.

"It's simple, when we left Shiro to rest he must have begun to experience brain wave reactions that caused some unexpected and unusual situations which none of us, even Shiro has never seen before." Everyone's expressions were still blank. "In other words, these brain wave reactions are being caused by some form of Walking Dead Syndrome... You know, like sleep-walking?"

"I hear what you're saying, but how does this explain why Shiro attacked us and thought we were the Galra?" Allura questioned.

"Just what I said." The Green Paladin repeated. "Walking Dead Syndrome is what happens when the body and mind are not working autonomously. Basically his body is awake, but his mind is not. He may be having a nightmare."

"Ohhh!" Everyone finally understood the situation.

"So if that's the case, how do we stop it?" Keith asked finally.

"That's easy, we figure out how to wake him up!" Pidge responded simply.

"Greeat. Great, great, great, great. But.. how do we do that?" Hunk asked, throwing his hands around in the air.

"I'm not sure," Pidge answered unfortunately, dropping her eyes to the floor.

"Well we can figure that out when we find him again." Keith decided, about to take off running again. But before he could...

"The escape pods!" Allura gasped.

"Yeah, what about them?" Hunk returned, stopping to look back at her.

"Think about it, wandering through the hallways, attacking us in a way we've never seen before and calling us Sendak and Zarkon. If Pidge's guess is correct... Shiro _is_ dreaming again. And he seems to think he's on a Galra ship and is trying to escape."

"Which means we have to stop him before he does." Pidge finished.

"Come on!" Keith took off with the others right behind him.

 _XXXX_

Shiro could barely see, it was dark in the room that stood before him. The pods were all lined up and he strode to the first one he saw. But hearing footsteps behind him, made him break into a quick jog.

The Paladins burst into the room searching for the Black Paladin.

"There he is!" Lance shouted, pointing in Shiro's direction. But what Shiro saw was the sentries, Sendak, Zarkon, and Haggar coming for him! He took off in a sprint toward the pod, hoping he would reach it before _they reached him_.

"We're not gonna make it!" Lance screamed in despair.

"Pidge, use your bayard, we can't let him leave!" Called Keith, as they bounded towards the pod. Pidge quickly drew her bayard. Aiming it and blindly, she took the shot; and the cable wrapped around Shiro, stopping him is his tracks. Shiro struggled to get free. Hunk and Lance grabbed him and dragged him away from the pod. Allura slipped a cuff on his robot arm so he couldn't use it, or hurt himself. The current Red and Yellow Paladins struggled to hold him down against the wall. Keith knelt down carefully, hoping to catch Shiro's attention. But all Shiro saw was Zarkon standing over him.

"Shiro?" Keith cautiously shifted forward. "Shiro, it's me, Keith." Shiro then froze, suddenly, Zarkon faded and the room he was in faded into darkness. All he heard was the sound of footsteps tapping closer, and heavy breathing from all the excitement. Shiro's tense body finally relaxed a little.

"Keith?" Everyone sighed deeply, Shiro was back to his old self… well somewhat. Then Shiro's finally calm voice soon turned to panic once more. "What happened? Where am I?..."

"Relax Shiro." Keith interrupted calmly, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You're ok. You're still in the castle." Lance and Hunk released him and Keith grabbed Shiro's hand to help pull him up from the ground. They had done this many times before and it felt comforting to Shiro to finally feel something familiar again… in a good way that is. Shiro nearly stumbled again, but Keith clung to him to support him. As Shiro steadied himself, he felt a little dizzy, even though he still couldn't see a thing.

"Easy there, Shiro-.." Keith grunted, adjusting his balance. "We'll fix you up."

"Well at least we know why we've found Shiro in different parts of the castle in the mornings." Pidge joked dryly.

"Wait, what?" Cora's face went blank. Everyone blinked at her, not sure what to say. Cora's eyes flashed with worry and confusion. _What are they talking about?_ She thought to herself.

"Yeah, but what's causing it?" Hunk wondered aloud.

"It's fine." Shiro spoke up quickly. "It's...it's nothing to worry about. I'm ok... and- that's- all that matters." He paused a moment before continuing. "Now come on." he started to walk away, with Keith leading as they went. "We need to get to the bridge. We need to figure this out."

 _XXXX_

They had sat Shiro down in his chair and he was resting. Everyone else encircled Coran's control panel, giving Shiro some space.

"Ok, that whole walking-dead thing, has kinda got me on edge." Lance shuttered uneasily.

"Yeah, I'm with Lance, that was _PRETTY_ creepy." Hunk agreed, peeking over his shoulder.

"I know, it was a little strange, and we're all a bit shaken from it. But Shiro is our friend and we have to help him." Allura explained, confidence ringing in her tone.

"But what _can_ we do?" Hunk wondered. "Walking Dead Syndrome is an uncontrollable mental illness, and random at that. And that's only _if_ Shiro has it."

"That's not entirely true." Pidge piped up. "Walking Dead Syndrome, is usually triggered by a traumatic experience. And we know that Shiro clearly has had that because of the Galra. As we've talked about before, Shiro has been essentially _'reliving'_ his past as a Galra prisoner, along with other memories like it. He said so himself."

"I guess so." Hunk reasoned. "I mean, after escaping the Galra for the _second_ time would do it." He tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"And his lack of sight doesn't help." Allura added.

"So where do we go from here?" Lance wondered gravely. Suddenly the screen lit up.

"Paladins! Come in!" Kolivan's voice urgently broken through the silence.

"We're here Kolivan." Allura responded quickly. "What is it?" The Blade of Marmora leader was silent for a moment.

"I'm afraid the Galra may be making another move." He said finally...

 **This story is one of my favorites out all the ones I've made so far, and I hope you guys like it was well. As always leave you thoughts in the reviews. And I would love to hear any ideas you may have. Later! B)**

 ** _XXXX_**

 **What's up guys?! Just a better, updated version of what I believe was one of the most enjoyable chapters to write for this story!**


	7. Resurgence!

Chapter six: Resurgence!

"Keith, I'm afraid we'll need you back at headquarters within the next eight vargas. What's your status?" Kolivan went on.

"Nothing much is happening here, right now, but we've been attacked by the Galra a couple of times now. And a new alli had been revealed to us."

"Who is this... alli?" Kolivan sounded half suspicious, and half intrigued.

"My name is Cora." Cora stepped forward. "I'm a friend to the Paladins and Shiro's sister."

"I was unaware that Shiro had a sister; much less one that is fighting for our cause." Kolivan seemed genuinely surprised.

"Well he didn't exactly know about it until recently, sir." Cora sighed unfortunately.

"And that's why we need to talk." Allura strode closer as well. Shiro sighed quietly, as the rest of the Paladins re-capped the events of the last several hours…

 _XXXX_

"This is disturbing news." Kolivan remarked finally. "It is unfortunate that Shiro can no longer see, but strangely enough I think there is someone who may be able to change that."

"Who do you have in mind?" Allura asked, her face showing how dubious, yet, hopeful she was.

"Ryner; she and her people are familiar with some of the Galra's weapons and with their knowledge of biochemistry. They may know a way to restore his sight." Allura thought for a moment.

"It's worth a try." The Princess agreed finally. "Thank you." Kolivan gave a respectful nod.

"So what is this about? What are the Galra up to?" Keith questioned, coming up next to Allura.

"We're not sure." The Blade leader sighed. "One of our latest missions almost cost us much important information. All we know is… something is happening,.. and we need to find out what."

 _XXXX_

Keith had packed all his things back into his ship. He had left the Black Bayard with Shiro, seeing as how he wouldn't need it anymore. After their conversation with Kolivan had ended, he prepared to return to the Blades; as instructed. They had another mission for him to go on with them. He was almost ready to leave when the door slid open behind him. Keith nearly jumped at the sight of Shiro standing there in the doorway, though he wasn't sure why.

"Shiro!? Uh- what are you doing here? You should be resting."

"I know." The older man said, pacing cautiously closer. His demeanor was calm, but weak. This made Keith feel reluctant to leave. "I'm just here to wish you luck. You be careful out there. I'm not sure what the Galra are up to, but we both know it can't be good."

"Yeah." He stared at the ground for a moment, before gazing back up again. "How did you find me here by yourself?" Shiro gave a slight smile.

"Just lucky I guess." Shiro joked with a shrug. "Though, I guess, I'm also just getting used to this place." A slight smile seemed to find its way to Keith's lips, as he strode toward is friend.

"Well we better get you back to the bridge." He said, taking Shiro's arm to begin leading him back the way they'd come. "I need someone to keep an eye on you... for my sake if not yours."

"What are you talking about." Shiro joked back, as Keith led him out of the hanger door.

"I just- I can't let the same thing happened to you twice." The Former Paladin reiterated a little more seriously. "I've already let you get captured by the Galra twice, I won't let you be tormented for it."

"Keith, my time as a prisoner of the Galra is not your fault." Shiro insisted. "No one could have known this was going to happen… Everything the Galra have done to me is not anyone's fault. You didn't have anything to do with it. I could have ended up in this situation regardless of what anyone, even you, would have done to stop it."

"I guess you may be right." Keith admitted with a sigh, though in his head he wasn't sure he was.

 _XXXX_

"Shiro, there you are, where have you been?" Allura came to his side as they entered, and placed her hand on his upper arm and forearm.

"I was just seeing Keith off." Shiro responded simply. "It's alright now, you can go. The Blade of Marmora needs you." He laid a hand on Keith's, which was rested on his right shoulder. Then taking Keith's hand, he turned to face him and pulled him into a big, loving hug. When they broke apart, Keith gave a nod to the rest of the team and headed on his way.

 _XXXX_

Launching his ship and heading away from the Castle of Lions, he wondered if Shiro was really going to be alright without him. He feared that the nightmare they had all experienced would happen again _. And if this was just the beginning? And what about the Galra? Could their recent resurgence of activity be a coincidence or part of a bigger plan?_ He thought. The questions seemed to keep piling up. _I guess we'll find out when we get there_ , he reasoned. And jetted on to the coordinates given to him by the Blades, thinking all the way.

 _XXXX_

Shiro, having heard Keith's footsteps disappear, knew he had gone and carefully walked to his chair to sit down.

"I suppose we can now take this off now." Allura said finally, beginning to remove the cuff on Shiro's robotic arm. But as soon as the cuff slipped down, Allura was met by a blast of light and a painful shock to her body. The force of it knocked her down.

"Allura!" Coran cried, running to her.

"What happened, what was that?!" Shiro, too, had felt the blast and was understandably alarmed by it. The Princess picked herself carefully off the floor, as Coran appeared behind her to help.

"I'm fine, what was that?" The Princess assured them. Shiro stood quickly.

"Ok, new rule, no one touch me, until we know what we're dealing with." Shiro decided, looking to the Altean royal advisor. "Coran, I may need to be confined to a containment unit if this continues."

"What? Why?" Coran asked, taken aback by this suggestion. Shiro crossed his arms in his leadership sort of way, as if making a statement.

"Clearly something is not right here. And I don't wanna take anymore risks of hurting any of you." He said. "It's too dangerous for any of us to be messing with something we don't know anything about. We to figure out what we're-...ahh!!" Shiro was cut off by a sharp burning pain on his left arm. Pidge quickly jumped forward and lifted his right arm off of his left. In its place, a large, red hand print was left.

"Ok, Shiro's right." She agreed definitively. "This is getting out of hand. We need to figure out the cause of this and soon. Coran, set a course for Olkarion. Maybe Ryner _does_ have some ideas."

"It doesn't look too bad." Allura remarked thankfully, studying the wound carefully. "Though these burns are a little deep."

"This is exactly what I'm talking about." Shiro emphasized; clearly beginning to get tired of this. "We need to figure this out before someone _else_ gets hurt."

"We know, and that's why we're going to Olkarion… To fix this." Allura assured him, determination painted on her face, and in her tone. She turned toward her royal advisor. "How long will it take to get there?"

"Not long, lucky for us we're about forty-five doboshes away from Olkarion." Coran responded happily.

"Excellent! So in the meantime, Shiro you go with Pidge and Cora. Maybe they can start working on figuring it out, while Coran and I work on rebooting the castle's defenses. We'll need them in perfect working condition. Especially now that the Galra are up to something again." Allura picked up the cuff, and Shiro, having picked up on this, came over and took it from her. He slipped it on and activated it, to everyone's surprise.

"I'm not taking any chances." He said, reading their minds. Then Pidge and Cora led him down the hallway to the labs to get to work.

 _XXXX_

Keith was soon on his mission, his Marmora suit masking his long black hair and bluish-grey eyes. Dagger in hand, he crept through the shafts with Kolivan and another Blade.

"Over here." Kolivan whispered, pointing down into the room below them. Through the vent, they saw darkness, but the figures walking through it had little lights that showed enough of them to know they were Galra. They were gathered around a large table. When the lights suddenly came on; the whole room was filled with Galra. Three commanders stood at the center table in the room, with some of their men standing behind them.

"What are they doing down there?" Keith wondered to himself.

"Making plans." Kolivan finished gravely. The commanders stood there staring. One to another, none of them spoke or made any move. It was as if they were telepathically communicating.

"Are you sure that the plan has been set into motion?" The female commander glared suspiciously at the other two.

"Positive." The largest of the three replied, his face stone still.

"And you're sure it was through... _Him_?" The other one questioned.

"What is he talking about?" Keith asked.

"More importantly... _Who_?" Kolivan corrected.

"I assure you, Commander Maythrax, the plan is in motion according to Haggar's specifications." The large one insisted firmly to the female Galra.

"You better hope you're not lying, Zanthrok." Maythrax responded suspiciously.

"Well if you two are done arguing." The smaller one, named Schmernok, interrupted. "We need to begin phase three of Operation: Colima."

"Operation: Colima?" Keith whispered. Then, from the folds of her cloak, Maythrax set a large vile of green-glowing liquid on the table in front of them.

"No!" Kolivan gasped, a tinge of shock and dread in his tone. "It can't be!"

"What is it?" Keith asked urgently.

"That substance; it's a dangerous material known as... Haggarium!" They stared at each other for a moment.

"What does it do? What's so special about?" Keith wondered, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

"It is a biochemical substance that was engineered by the Olkari. But it was too dangerous, so they locked it away on a treacherous planet impossible to navigate to protect it from the wrong hands."

"Why didn't they just destroy it?" His thoughts coming out in words.

"Because it can't be destroyed. When the Olkari were experimenting with it, they found that it could evolve and adapt. It was also known to corrupt anything and _anyone_ directly exposed to it. No one knows the cure for Haggarium poisoning. Except a handful of Olkari still alive today." They turned back to the conversation going on below them.

"The rest of the this will be reserved for a largely important target. It is of the utmost importance to get it there safely according to the plan." Maythrax instructed.

"Yes, we have what we needed from _her_ , and it has been relayed to the target beta953, now we must prepare for the next target. The more... _powerful_.. target." Schmernok finished in a menacing fashion.

"So what's the plan, go back and tell the others?" Keith asked finally.

"No." Kolivan responded, his gaze not breaking. "We need to find out as much as we can. We stay... til the meeting is over. If we make our move now, we may miss some very important information that could put the mission in jeopardy. And ruin what we already have."

 _XXXX_

"Here we are." Coran declared at last. "Olkarion." As the ship hovered over the beautiful lush land of the Olkari planet. The team had all been on the bridge for a while now. Shiro sat in his place at the helm of the Black Paladin, Pidge and Cora were working around him. Cora set a bowl of liquid next to Pidge, who dipped a cloth into it.

"Ok, this may sting a little." Pidge warned. Shiro flinched and grunted as she cleaned the wound left by his weaponized hand. Though it was painful, he did his best not to move. "Sorry." The Green Paladin apologized awkwardly.

"Has to be done." Shiro sighed forgivingly.

"Don't worry. Surely Ryner knows _something_ that can help us." Allura hoped out loud; praying Kolivan was right to send them there.

When they set down, the Paladins found Ryner and explained the situation.

"And as you know." Allura went on. "Shiro's arm is a very dangerous weapon." She unwrapped the cloth around Shiro's burn. Ryner studied it carefully, as though recognizing it.

"Hmm." She thought. "You're right this is a dangerous weapon, have you shut it down to prevent other damages?"

"Yes, this cuff prevents it from activating. Involuntary or not." Allura confirmed.

"Good, because clearly it has done enough damage already." The alien said. "I am not familiar with this type of technology even when working for the Galra. But I do have some things we can try to get to the bottom of this."

"That's all we ask, Ryner."

"Do you think Shiro's blindness could be another cause for it's malfunction." Pidge wondered.

"Perhaps." Ryner replied. "Though it seems unlikely. I feel that there is more to it than that."

Ryner and the Paladins had managed to connect sensors to Shiro's arm, without getting zapped and were about to try something. Everyone wore a head piece, as Ryner laid a hand on Shiro's arm and she tried to interface with it. Everyone was still for a moment, when suddenly a type of green energy zapped Ryner and she fell back. Lance and Hunk protected her from hitting the ground. Steadying herself, she gasped.

"Ryner! What is it?!" Coran asked hurriedly.

"Something is... familiar.. about this energy!" She breathed. "I'm not sure what, but I can tell you that not only was there a Trojan horse program to cover the tracker's signal. But there was a virus that infects anything it comes into contact with." Everything froze; doom and dread crossing their faces.

"What?" Pidge cried. "What kind of virus?"

"I'm not sure; I have to get more information on it." Ryner was as urgent about this as they were. Again she centered herself to connect with Shiro's arm once again; focusing hard to get information from it.

 _XXXX_

"Phase three is in motion." Maythrax remarked, clicking the buttons on the panel in front of her.

"Is it ready?" Schmernok asked.

"Nearly." Zanthrok responded, gripping the device and holding the vile over a heat source. The liquid within the vile began to bubble and fizz, it then began to glow. And it was so bright that it nearly blinded everyone in the room. The glow died down to a gentle one, fizzing steadily like a freshly poured soda. " _Now_ it's ready."

"Then let us send it to target spot omega64 and prepare for the execution of phase four of Operation: Colima." Maythrax instructed decisively. Schmernok laid what looked like a Galra briefcase on the table and Zanthrok placed the vile carefully into it.

"We cannot touch it until it has fully cooled." He ordered, setting the pincher tool he'd just used. "This stuff is powerful, getting it on our skin could prove disastrous."

"Yes." Maythrax agreed, closing the lid of the case. "So we mustn't waste a drop,.. we'll need it for our target."

"Voltron won't know what hit them!" Zanthrok said, clenching a fist maliciously.

Maythrax picked up the case and headed for the door, but before she left the room she turned around. "We are finished here. Vrepidsa!" They motioned to each other, as the other two responded, "Vrepidsa!" in return.

"We must go and warn the princess." Kolivan decided finally. "Now!" And they crept their way back the way they'd come.

 _XXXX_

Ryner was sent back yet again by the same green energy from Shiro's arm as before. Though this time, it was not in vain.

"This is not good." She commented, as Allura extended a hand to her, and the alien graciously took it.

"What is it?" Allura asked, pulling her up again.

"I still cannot identify the substance at work here, but I can tell you that it is definitely a biochemical virus. And if we do not stop it soon. It will destroy him from the inside out. Even now his molecular structure is slowly breaking down!"

"How long do we have?" Shiro wondered, concern and frustration crossing his mind.

"I don't know. About two quintants? It's hard to be sure, if I could just remember what this substance is I..." She was interrupted by the blinking screen on the Paladins' coms.

"Allura! Come in!" Keith's voice took everyone by surprise.

"Keith, what is it, what's wrong?" Allura wondered.

"We've just returned from an intelligence mission." Kolivan began urgently. "It appears someone important to our cause has been targeted, and we think Voltron is next. Three commanders gathered together to discuss some plan. Something they call Operation: Colima. They were just initiating phase three, and preparing for phase four. We're not sure what the plan is or where it'll take place. But you must find a place to hide, until we know what their plan is. And somehow, they've managed to get their hands on... Haggarium."

 **Hey guys so this concept was inspired by Haggarium on Voltron force. If you haven't see it, it's great. Totally worth a watch! And I thought it would be cool to see this concept in Legendary Defender, so let me know what you guys think about this. Thx!**

 ** _XXXX_**

 **Hey guys! How's it going!? Just got another chapter finished! Beginning to make some progress! Anyway, enjoy!! Thx!!!**


	8. Operation: Nexus

Chapter seven: Operation: Nexus

"What?!" Allura gasped. Her eyes widened, as though her worst nightmare had suddenly returned to get her.

"Wait, what?" Lance vocalized, raising an eyebrow.

"Haggarium?" Pidge echoed.

"Are you sure?!" Ryner breathed in horror, being just as shocked and horrified as the Princess.

"These images confirmed it." Kolivan validated, showing the photos and video feeds they'd hacked into and collected. "I am as surprised and disturbed as you are. Which is why we must move quickly."

"What is Haggarium?!" Pidge cried, her frustration demonstrating her hatred of not knowing what everyone was talking about.

"Haggarium is a substance created by Zarkon's witch." Ryner began gravely. "Right after the Galra imprisoned us, they forced us to experiment on it. That's the main reason why they took over our planet." She paused before continuing. "King Lubos was overthrown, taken prisoner and used against us. But he, too, wanted to discover the secret to Haggarium. And at first he wanted to be free from the Galra and his people no longer prisoners. But as we discovered, he became only interested in his own well-being rather then his people's. During our experimentation, we found that Haggarium was much more powerful and potent than we ever imagined." The memories came flooding back to her as recalled what had happened. "Not only did it react violently to things of nature... but also the people and animals too. We lost many of our people because of our experiments. Countless lives… and countless more because of the side effects."

"What kind of side effects?" Allura wondered suspiciously; beginning to get more worried.

"The worst one there is." The alien sighed. "Anyone to come into contact with the Haggarium, would get it into their bloodstream. But just touching it or even breathing it in would also cause them to fall ill and die. Unfortunately when they would interact with anyone else outside of the labs, it would spread the virus it caused on contact. Because of this many of our people were lost to this menacing substance. There's no cure for it, and anyone poisoned by it only has a few days at best. And I fear your friend has it." Everyone's eyes widened, their bodies tensed as they looked at Shiro. "Fortunately, the Haggarium in his system seems to only be confined to his arm, but I fear if we don't act soon it will begin to adapt and attack his body. This specific variation is a combination of biomechanics."

"So it's like a virus, a computer _and_ a virus?" Pidge reiterated, putting the pieces together.

"Precisely." Ryner confirmed. "And the best place to take care of it is..."

"Nexzela." Allura finished, as if she should have known this.

"Yes, we mustn't waste any time." The Olkari leader insisted hurriedly. "Go to Nexzela. There should be a generator that can purge the Haggarium from his system, I'll transmit the information to your ship."

"We will alert you of anything we find." Kolivan assured them.

"Got it, thank you Kolivan." Allura answered, and when they'd hung up; she turned her attention to the rest of the team. "We've got no time to lose." She said. "We must get Shiro to Nexzela as soon as possible."

"Way ahead of you." Lance called over his shoulder, as he and Pidge carefully led Shiro back into the Castle ready to leave.

 _XXXX_

Jets blazed, as the castle set off for Nexzela. Ryner's instructions in hand, Coran plotted the course and they were on their way.

 _XXXX_

The darkness almost seemed comforting for the Red Lion pilot. He could almost say he wished he were in Shiro's position; unable to see the bleakness of the situation staring them _all_ in the face. But he finally reasoned with himself that this could be his alternative; but found it didn't make him feel any better. As he stood there leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets he wandered through many thoughts. Thoughts of Keith, and Shiro, and of the mission they were now preparing to go on; and wondered about what the result would be.

"Lance, what are you doing out here?" Lance jumped at the sound of the Princess's voice, snapping out of his thoughts in an instant(and nearly jumping out of his skin in the process).

"A- Allura?!" He acted, as surprised as he felt. "N-uhh.. How long have you been standing there for?"

"Just a few moments." Allura returned simply, gazing her blue and purple eyes into his. "Are you alright? You seem distracted."

"I don't know." Lance sighed deeply, digging his hand into his pockets again and turning toward the darkened shadow of a wall. "I guess I'm just worried for Shiro…"

"As are we all." Allura put in thoughtfully, her eyes wandering to the floor unfortunately.

"Shiro may not survive this." He stated gravely. "I mean, this infection has no known cure, and there's no guarantee this _generator_ thing will work."

"I fear for Shiro as much as you do." Allura admitted sadly, her eyes still on the floor as she drew closer. "But I can't imagine what Keith is going through… and what it will do to him if we fail."

"Heh, you're telling me." Lance responded with a light chuckle; though Allura could see that he regarded this to be far from funny.

"We just have to do our best, and hope that it's enough." Allura spoke up after a short silence. "Perhaps Nexzela will indeed be the key to curing Shiro... and everything will be fine after that." Lance finally turned to face her, even bringing himself to meet her uncertain gaze.

"Yeah... Maybe." He mumbled after a moment's hesitation. Then the two headed back toward the bridge together, to prepare for their arrival.

 _XXXX_

Keith and Kolivan stood sifting through the intelligence they had gathered in the recent turn of events, hoping they'd find something to finish this jigsaw puzzle of a plan. Keith couldn't stop thinking about what Ryner had said, and the Haggarium that they'd discovered as part of the Galra's plan. He racked his brain hard to find a connection; when suddenly it hit him! The one thing that he'd been worrying about, was the one thing he was missing!

"It's Shiro!" Keith breathed, shock and terror stabbing him in the chest; surprising himself that he'd said this aloud. This fear clung to him with a deadly passion, as if trying to strangle him.

"What was that?" Kolivan wondered, having not fully heard what he'd said.

"It's Shiro, _he_ was the target that they were talking about. And Nexzela is their target point."

"Are you sure?" Kolivan questioned intensely, feeling as though Keith was going out on a limb with this one; one that seemed a little unrealistic.

"Think about it." Keith pried. "The Galra don't mess around. Ryner said that the Haggarium was created by Zarkon's witch. So they must know enough about it to use it against us. They must know about the cure being on Nexzela. They could be using Shiro to set a trap for Voltron... If they infect Voltron; they would be able to take control of it and let Shiro die."

"And take back Nexzela to cure Voltron and reclaim their lost ground." Kolivan finished. "We need more information to be sure... and I think I know where to get it."

 _XXXX_

"We'll be there in about half a Varga, Princess." Coran reported from his control area.

"Thank you, Coran." Allura turned around. Cora and the other Paladins stood around Shiro. He seemed quite docile for the moment, but inside his mind was spinning. All that had happened, all he had seen and experienced was, again, starting to catch up with him. He wasn't dreaming, or even sleeping for that matter, but it felt like a nightmare to him. One that he thought he would never wake from. He wondered when it would end where he could ever think clearly, or at least as clear as he could get.

Cora, too, was lost in her world of thought. She wished she could forget everything that had happened. And hoped even more that it would all end up alright again. She secretly begged for this day to end, only to wake tomorrow and have everything be back to the way things were before she showed up.

"Coran." Allura instructed, gesturing as she spoke. "Head towards that moon up ahead, we'll hide the Castle on an asteroid for the night. I'm sure we can pick this up as soon as possible tomorrow."

"Yes, Princess." Coran replied, acting on the command.

"But what about Shiro?" Pidge protested quickly. "Ryner said that we need to get him to Nexzela and cure him as soon as possible."

"I understand your concern, but we will keep an eye on that as well." Allura responded comfortingly. She placed a device on Shiro's left wrist somewhat like the cuff on his right arm. "This will keep track of Shiro's vital signs and alert us of any problems."

"But how does that work?" Lance asked suspiciously, half doubting that it would work.

"It monitors the important parts of the body." Allura explained. "You know: heart, lungs? And when it detects something wrong, like increased heart rate or low blood pressure. It automatically sends signals to the castle's bridge and sets off the alarm. So if anything goes wrong and Shiro gets worse, we'll know as soon as possible."

"I think Allura's right." Shiro spoke up weakly. He coughed and shifted his position. "We all need to try and get some rest. We may not get any, but at least we can try. Besides we may need it. Something tells me, we'll need all the help we can get."

"I don't know, Shiro." Lance muttered, crossing his arms and avoiding eye contact. "I mean, after all that has happened to you. Don't you think we should fix it as soon as we can?"

"Look, I know how hard it is to see a friend in trouble." Shiro's hand somehow found his shoulder. "And I understand where you're coming from with this. But if the Galra are planning to poison Voltron with this... Haggarium. We need to be fully prepared to face it and have all the facts; before we fly into something that could very likely be a trap. We need to weigh our options and make a plan before we make a move… this is the fate of the universe we're talking about."

"Yeah, but what if you have another nightmare? We don't exactly want a repeat of searching the whole castle to track you down again. That was one thing I would only like to do once." Hunk spoke up, raising his hands in front of his body as if to push something away.

"We need to get some rest. But we don't have to _right_ now, we can wait a little bit if you want. Besides I need to go to the Black lion for a second anyway."

"What? Why?" Pidge wondered. "You can't fly the Black lion like this, you're getting weaker by the hour and you can't see a thing."

"I've done it before." Shiro reminded her with a shrug. "But that's not why. I just feel like I need some time to bond with it more."

"Well I'm going with you, at least to watch." Pidge decided. "Besides I am curious to see if you're connection with the Black lion is still there. Especially after Keith flew it earlier."

"I guess I'll stick around here." Lance said slowly, giving in to the decision.

"Yeah, I'll hang back too." Hunk agreed. "Actually wait, I'm gonna go find some supper. Feels like we haven't eaten in days, after everything that's been going on." The Yellow Paladin strode towards the kitchen, and Pidge and Shiro followed him out; heading for the Black Lion's bay.

 _XXXX_

Shiro breathed deeply, his energy focused on him.. and the lion. He gripped the handles tenderly. Trying to connect to the lion,.. trying to feel its presence, nothing. He tried again, and again, and again, but nothing happened. He heaved another sigh; worried that his connection _had_ been ruined yet again. As he headed back out of the lion, he stopped to look up at it as he stood just inches from its open mouth. Though the pitch-blackness shielded his eyes from the mechanical beast; he knew exactly where it was behind him.

"Are you ok?" Pidge asked. Shiro didn't move. "Shiro?" The Black Paladin lowered his head and closed his eyes.

"I was half prepared for this." He said finally, an unfortunate sadness to his tone.

"Maybe it just takes time." Pidge suggested gently, immediately feeling sorry for him.

"Maybe." Shiro nodded slightly.

"I'm gonna go check on something real quick, I'll be back."

"I'll be here." Shiro shrugged helplessly. The Green Paladin strode out of the room and having heard her footsteps fade away, he looked back in the direction of the Black Lion. Though he was still unable to see anything, he'd kept his wits about him enough to know where the majestic and mystical beast lay behind him. He had only taken a couple of steps away, when the ground shook and something moved behind him. The Black Lion gave a slight roar and shifted it's ramp toward Shiro. It nudged him and he let out a scream; falling into the lion's mouth. Pidge, having heard Shiro's cry, bolted back into the bay in time to see the Black lion stand up, turn towards the door and jet out of the bay!

 **Hey guys, thanks sooo much for taking the time out to read my story! And I'm sooo glad that you're enjoying it! Hope you contour to enjoy it! And we get closer to the end. As always leave a comment below and more fanfics will be posted soon. Depending on how long they take to be rewritten and edited. Thank for the support! Peace!**

 ** _XXXX_**

 **Whasup everybody?!?! Just another update! Hope it's better than before! Since I am re-editing all of my stories, I have set a 2000 word minimum for myself so I had to add a bit more to this chapter to reach that min. Hope it adds more to the story, even if it's not much. So… enjoy! Thx!!!**


	9. Shock And Awe

Chapter eight: Shock And Awe

"What is it now?!" Lance cried, hearing the alarms going off, he'd had about enough of that sound to last his the rest of his life.

"Guys, come in!" Pidge's voice was frantic. "Allura? Coran? Anyone?!"

"Pidge, what is it?" Allura answered the panicked Paladin; concern ringing in her tone.

"I stepped out of the room for just a second and then the Black Lion suddenly seemed to act up. And I think it took off with Shiro!" Her words quickened as she spoke.

"What?!" Allura gasped, her pupils shrinking.

"How is that possible?!" Cora cried.

"Wait what?" Hunk wondered in confusion, holding the pan of food he'd just brought back from the kitchen for the others.

"Oh no." Cora breathed to herself.

"I don't know what happened, but I know Shiro didn't do this,... it was _definitely_ the Black lion." She explained.

"So what do we do?" Lance wondered, half in a panic. Suddenly the screen lit up and Keith and Kolivan's faces showed the grave intensity of the information they were about to deliver.

"Keith, Kolivan! This is not a good time. Is something wrong?" Allura remarked, stress emphasized by her tone.

"Very wrong." Kolivan said simply, his voice lowered.

"Where's Shiro?" Keith asked quickly.

"Well..." Pidge trailed off, smiling awkwardly. "About that…"

 _XXXX_

"What?!" Keith's heart suddenly twisted in his chest, as if someone had stabbed him with a knife and twisted it in his flesh. "What do you mean he's gone?!"

"Exactly what we said." Pidge repeated. Keith tried his best to keep from totally losing it, but couldn't bite his tongue to do it; for fear of letting everyone know how he felt about the situation. "All I know is that, one minute the Black lion is quietly sitting behind Shiro and the next it takes off. And Shiro is nowhere to be seen. I heard him call out, so the lion must have taken him against his will. But I have no idea where it's taking him, or why."

"Then we need to find out and soon!" Keith replied in a slight panic.

"Keith, why is this so important to you?" Allura asked, "I mean, I know how much you care about Shiro, but that still doesn't explain the meaning of this?"

"Because the Galra have targeted him, as a way to set a trap for Voltron!" Keith responded.

"What are you talking about?" Pidge questioned in disbelief, a dubious arch in her brow.

"Shiro was the one who was targeted. The commanders from our mission said that they had targeted someone on team Voltron, with Haggarium. And we know, now, that, according to Ryner; Shiro was infected with Haggarium. _He_ was the one the commanders were talking about."

"Not only that, but they seem to be using him to draw you into Nexzela knowing that it's the only thing that can cure him. They plan to infect Voltron to immobilize it so they can take it back for Zarkon." Kolivan added, stone-faced.

"This is _not_ good." Allura agreed finally, a deep sorrowful graveness falling over the group; even going so far as to practically seep through the screen to affect Kieth and Kilovan with them.

"But what choice do we have?" Lance asked honestly. "Shiro is missing and now the one place we need to be, is a trap."

"Simple." Keith replied firmly. "We find Shiro and protect Nexzela long enough to cure Shiro and get rid of the Galra."

"Uh-wha.. wha.. wait." Hunk stuttered in surprise. "You want _us_ to walk right into a trap, that we _know_ is a trap, and fight from the outside in. Long enough to cure Shiro? That's crazy!"

"I agree!" Cora spoke up confidently. "The Galra will have the upper hand. They'll be waiting for us. Ready to attack. We won't even get anywhere close to Nexzela. And we still need to _find_ him."

"I can try using the castle's link with the Black lion to track them down." Allura reminded them, heading to the teludav.

"And I can scan the area for it's signal, and heat signatures." Pidge added, sitting at her chair and pulling up a screen.

"And while they're doing that, we need to figure out what we're going to do. How are we going to get to Nexzela without getting ambushed by the Galra." Cora thought.

"We would need a distraction for the Galra. If we gather the coalition, they can attack the Galra and keep them distracted long enough to get Shiro in there." Keith thought out loud.

"Or get rid of the Galra before that." Kolivan suggested simply. "We don't know how long it'll take to find Shiro. But in the meantime, we need to work on taking out the Galra so when we _do_ find him... we'll be able to take care of him right away."

"I guess it's worth a try, except for one thing... we may need Voltron to do it but without the Black lion. We won't be able to." Allura pointed out.

"Pidge can keep on that, like I said if we gather a few members of the coalition we may be able to stop the Galra. Kolivan, myself, and the Blades can mount a sneak attack during the battle to immobilize them for you guys to finish them off and get Shiro to Nexzela once we find him." Keith insisted.

"Perhaps it's worth the risk, Princess." Coran suggested. Allura thought for a moment. _What would Father do?_ She asked herself. And then she knew what she had to do...

"Let's do it."

 _XXXX_

"Sire, the trap is set, they should be here any minute." Haggar seemed to sneak up on the emperor without a sound, but that didn't surprise Zarkon.

"Good." He replied in his low menacing tone. "Soon we will have Voltron and destroy the Paladins once and for all."

"And if all goes well it won't be very difficult. But if it doesn't I have just the thing for a back-up plan. Either way, we will have Voltron." The witch turned and stole herself back to the Druids to continue their project.

 _XXXX_

Keith stood alone in a room at the Blades headquarters. He was preparing himself for the battle ahead, but he couldn't shake the feeling that clung to him like a wet blanket. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like going to find Shiro himself. He fought with himself over and over about this; he wanted to find Shiro, but he knew they needed to clear Nexzela. Again and again he reasoned with himself why he should go and why he should stay. But then he remembered something that Shiro had told him, what seemed like forever ago.

 _"Patience... Yields... Focus..."_ These three words seemed to solve everything for him. Shiro's wisdom stuck with him every time, and Keith couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude for it. Though he, himself, was a little hard to deal with(even he admitted it) he was glad Shiro fought for him. He didn't know his father as well as he'd wanted to, and never knew his mother. Shiro was all the family he had. And when he flunked out of the Garrison, he felt like he'd let Shiro down. Shiro's words echoed around his mind. One thing after another,... Keith now felt a little more at peace. _'Everyone has a part to play.'_ Shiro had once told him. Then Keith went back to a memory that he hadn't recalled in years…

 _Keith and Shiro stood face to face. It was launch day… and Shiro was about to leave._

 _"Why do you have to go?" Keith asked him, wishing he didn't have to._

 _"Hey, don't worry." Shiro placed his firm right hand on his shoulder, his eyes tenderly staring down into Keith's. "I'll be back before you know it. And I'll send transmissions when and if I can."_

 _"But what am I going to do without you til then?" Keith protested doubtfully. "You're the reason I've been doing so well at the Garrison." Shiro smiled warmly._

 _"Keith, there's something special in you. I know it. Sometimes you just need someone to help you find it. But you also need to have confidence in yourself to **truly** become great. And you don't need **me** here to do that." Keith stared at the ground, he knew that Shiro was right and though he didn't like it; he still understood._

 _"Ok." He said softly._

 _"Shiro." The commander called. "It's time. We need to go. This ship won't launch itself, you know."_

 _"I'll be there in just a minute, Sam." Shiro called back, half chuckling._

 _"Man, I can't wait for this mission!" Matt gushed excitedly, playfully jogging past the two men. "I've read all about Kerberos, this is gonna be epic!" The young man cheerfully jogged onto the ship. Shiro turned back to Keith._

 _"You're gonna be fine." He told the younger man confidently. "You and I have known each other for a long time now. And I know that you'll do well, and no matter what happens... know that I'm proud of you, Keith... And don't be afraid to step up in a time of need." Shiro lifted his hand and when Keith took it they pulled it into a hug._

 _"I'm gonna miss you." Keith held back the tears that threatened to sneak down his face._

 _"I know... me too." And with that they broke apart and Shiro boarded the ship. The last thing Keith remembered was the ship blasting off into space. And he remembered how horribly he missed him... even after he'd just left…_

When he was back in reality, he looked around the empty room. He sighed. Though his mind was, somewhat, put to rest, he still felt as stuck as ever. Like there wasn't anything he could do either way. He had to make a decision and go for it. _But if I go_ , he thought to himself, _what would the Blades do? Would they kick me out? At least team Voltron and Shiro were at least a **little** understanding about it_. He knew what he had to do. Shiro had given him everything he could have imagined, he was like a brother to him. Maybe more than that even, and even though he didn't feel like he was cut out to be a leader like Shiro wanted. He knew that he had to lead this mission… _for Shiro!_ His mind cried. And for the first time, he felt the confidence of a leader. The confidence that Shiro always instilled into him. The confidence he'd always seen in Shiro. The former Red Paladin looked off into the invisible distance of darkness...

And somehow, so was Cora. She lowered her face as she stood in the training deck, sword drawn and ready for battle. As a drone came at her, she waited, eyes shut visualizing her plan of attack. And just seconds before it reached her... her eyes shot open and she plunged into battle. The drone jabbed it's sword in her direction and she countered with a dodge of avoidance and a slice from where she knelt slicing the drones arm off. Propelling herself up she landed a kick-punch combo and ends with a powerful round kick-fist strike. The drone hit on the ground with a crash and dematerialized.

"Not bad." The voice of the Blue Paladin made Cora nearly jump out of her skin.

"Oh, Lance,.. it's you." She said, dropping her arms to her sides and lowered her blade.

"Hey, are you ok? You seem kinda distracted." Lance could tell that she was troubled, though really, he'd picked up on this ages ago.

"Uh, yeah sure." She lied, adopting an awkward stance. Lance drew his bayard as if asking to join her for a while. With a wave of her hand the next stage began, as they took a back to back position with one another.

"Ya know,.. ..none of this is your fault." Lance commented, blasting the drones, his back pressed against hers.

"I didn't say that." She answered defensively, raising her blade and slicing away another drone.

"Didn't have to." He shrugged, peering through the scope on his long blaster.

"Well so what if I do, what does it matter? There's nothing I can do to change it." Cora snapped, silently cursing herself. "And who knows if it'll even turn out ok."

"Maybe you _did_ mess up, so what?" Lance replied somewhat insensitively. "What matters _now_ is what you do to fix it."

"Except for I don't think I _can_ fix it." She lowered her shoulders and glanced at the floor.

"Why not?" He stood only but a few feet from her now. She thrust her head up to look at him.

"We've been experimenting and running tests and have found nothing!" She strode over to stand face to face with the Blue Paladin as she spoke. "Shiro is blind and if I hadn't come here for help he wouldn't _need_ help."

"Hey, you're not the only one to have that happen." Lance laid a hand on the woman's shoulder. "When Shiro had just recovered from an injury from Zarkon's witch, he told us he'd had a dream about how he escaped from the Galra the first time. He told us that a Galra working undercover within the Galra Empire's ranks, had set him free. His name was Ulaz, he gave Shiro coordinates to his outpost and when we went there… Zarkon found us."

"What did you do?" Cora wondered distraughtly.

"Ulaz let down the shield hiding the base, and used it to save all our lives. We'd formed Voltron, but even _then_ we didn't stand a chance against the ro-beast that they sent to destroy us." Lance continued.

"I... had no idea..." She trailed off, thinking about her actions; feeling less conflicted somehow. "But if I'd never come here, Shiro wouldn't have been blinded and all this wouldn't have happened." She heart aching and her stomach flipping.

"Why do you insist on being angry with yourself?"

"Because he's my brother." Cora shot back hotly.

"No, what's the _real_ reason." He pressed more intensely.

"He's a close friend to me and I may have just ruined his life!" She cried back on the edge of tears.

"That's not it, what's the _**real**_ reason!" Lance yelled.

"Because I want to be angry at myself!" She blurted out these words and as soon as she uttered them she froze. Her blade slipped lifelessly out of her hand and landed on the floor with a hollow clang; and a tear slipped down her cheek. Lance stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug, and she slowly hugged back. Her sobs echoed around the room, despite being muffled by Lance's chest.

 **What's up Shiro fans! Btw Cora is my own character that I came up with and so I'm copywriting her right now: (C) Cora. Anyway this story was fun and I hadn't really planned on using Cora until I one day thought 'what if Shiro had a sister?' And here we are today. I like how Cora fits into the story. But I do believe the backstory could have been a little bit different for her. Idk let me knew what you guys think. Thx!**

 ** _XXXX_**

 **Hi guys! Finally got this chapter updated!! Sorry for leaving ya'll hanging. A lot of things came up to distract me from doing it! I'll try to _at least_ finish this story as soon as I can! Enjoy this updated version!! Thx!!!**


	10. Shades of Darkness

Chapter nine: Shades of Darkness

"Wait! Stop! What are you doing?! Where are you going! Stop, we have to go back!" Shiro cried frantically. He'd found his way to the controls and tried to stop the lion or at least turn it around. But it seemed like the controls were set, they wouldn't move at all. The lion was on a mission, but what it was was a mystery to him. The lion growled at him as if to tell him to calm down, but this did not phase the panicked paladin; as it jetted on stoick as it could be. The lions spoke no words, but even _this_ was confusing to him. Shiro continued to try and stop the lion, until finally it did stop. It was so abrupt that it sent Shiro forward a little.

"What are you doing? Where are we?" The lack of movement had finally calmed him enough to think clearly again. The lion finally called to him, communicating the way it had so many times before. Now this was familiar and he knew what it meant.

"You want me to see through your eyes again." He breathed quietly. Then he closed his eyes to let his mind connect with the lion's. And when he opened his eyes again,... he saw an astral plain. Similar to the one he and the other Paladins had been in to free Voltron from that virus on Olkarion. The streams of blue, black and white light swirled all around him in a tunnel leading in both directions to his right and left. Then suddenly, he saw the Black lion, it had shrunk and taken a more life-like form. It's tail switched and it's eyes flickered like a blink. And the lion's roar sounded more real than he had ever heard it before. As Shiro stood there, he wondered how this was possible. Then suddenly... out of nowhere... the lion charged!

 _XXXX_

"How's it going, Pidge?" Allura asked. Her body twitched nervously, hoping the Green Paladin was having better luck than she was. Lance and Cora hadn't returned yet and Hunk had left to go get a snack.

"Sorry Princess, but I'm not finding anything." Pidge sighed disappointedly, also growing frustrated by this point. _If only I hadn't left Shiro alone!_ She thought, _we wouldn't have to be looking for him_.

"Keep working on it." Allura encouraged. "We're almost to Nexzela." Then the screen lit up, and a certain young Holt appeared before then.

"Matt!" Pidge's reaction was both excited and curious, as to why her brother was contacting them.

"Hey Pidge, we're right behind you on route to Nexzela. Look out to your right." Coran pulled up the camera feeds on the right side of the ship and sure enough, there were the reinforcements.

"Great! we can see you, thanks for coming out." The Green Paladin smiled.

"We heard that this mission is for Shiro. Is he ok?" Matt's face showed his concern.

"Well… I'm not exactly sure right now, but if we don't get him to Nexzela soon he won't be." Pidge shrugged.

"Yeah I know, we also heard that he's missing in action. Something about the Black Lion taking off with him. Any idea where it could have taken him?"

"No, I've been scanning the area, but I haven't found anything. I've tried everything I can think of and nothing has worked!" She slammed her fists down on the arms of her chair, a boiling frustration building in her chest.

"Don't give up, Pidge." Matt told his little sister. "You'll figure it out! You're the smartest person I know! You'll think of something!" He was attempting to reassure her, and she found that it was sorta working.

"Yeah, thanks Matt." Pidge sighed, trying to sound convinced.

 _XXXX_

Shiro dodged the lion's attack, and ran headlong as fast as he could away from it. He stumbled and fell, and the lion bounded after him. Jumping onto him it snarled in his face. It opened its big jaws and bit down. Shiro threw his robot arm up and caught it's jaws. The lion weighed down on it getting closer and closer to his face.

"Why?! Why are you doing this?!" He cried, throwing the beast off of him. The lion came again and again, but Shiro lashed out to keep it back away from him. Then suddenly the lion stopped and began to change shape. Out of the light that nearly blinded Shiro, the lion morphed into Keith. He was wearing his normal clothing, and he held his Marmora dagger drawn and ready. Shiro stood there trying to make sense of this. Then Keith pulled up his cloth mask and attacked! Shiro didn't want to fight Keith, he loved him too much. But he knew this wasn't the real Keith and he didn't have a choice. He had to protect himself. Keith came again and Shiro defended again, countering he sent the younger man back several feet.

"I don't want to fight you, Keith!" The Black Paladin cried firmly. Keith stood, he said nothing, then, yet again, he became a ball of light that changed into something else. Something he dreaded...

"Zarkon!" He breathed. Then out from behind him strode two more dreaded figures. Haggar from the right and Sendak from the left. "No..." The horror and fear that ran through his mind was unimaginable. He had this terrible feeling of darkness creeping into his soul. As the three people that stood before him came at him all at once. And there he was fighting all three of his worst enemies and former captors simultaneously, and barely making it at best. He fought as hard as he could hoping they would stop and change into something else like what had happened twice already. But they kept coming and he was afraid that they were real and that they were _really_ trying to kill him; as Zarkon had done once before. Zarkon landed a blow that sent Shiro tumbling back for what seem like several miles. When he recovered himself the witch appeared, blasted him with magic, and disappeared again. The Sendak thrust his arm at Shiro in an attack. He grabbed the arm and flung Sendak over his shoulder, and sending him flying into the black and blue landscape. From which he didn't return, from what Shiro could see. Zarkon and the witch now swirled around him, one attacked with brute force, the other with magical energy. And at the same time Haggar and Zarkon came for what seemed to be the final blow. But Shiro swung around and took both out in one fell swoop. When he straightened himself up again, he saw that Black Lion. It stood but a few yards from him. It's eyes flared, but it didn't move. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever. The lion mentally reached out to Shiro, trying to see into his mind. It searched his mind, through memories of his past; but Shiro didn't want to think about them. He tried not think about them, but the lion insisted. Shiro was standing there trying to keep the lion out of his head. But still his past experiences started playing. Like an old film, he remembered the void he had seen in one of his dreams walking down that hallway of memories. Slowly turning from happy,.. to sad,.. and terrifying! He couldn't bare to go back to that. He dropped to his knees, as if getting a headache, fighting it harder. When suddenly it stopped! He looked up at where the lion still remained, he was surprised by how abruptly it stopped. The lion turned and walked away from him.

"Wait!" Shiro couldn't stop himself from dashing after the lion, as a great beam of light nearly blinded him, yet again; but he kept running, until...

 _Shiro stood in his childhood home, he glanced around, unsure as to how he was here. When suddenly, movement caught the corner of his eye. And when he turned in that direction, a younger version of himself stood before him. His dark eyes stared right through him, looking soft and innocent. He was five at this point in time. Noticing that his gaze wasn't on him, he turned to see what he WAS looking at. His father was sitting at the island the center of the kitchen, sipping his coffee and reading the morning paper. His mother stood tending to the cleaning and cooking of the kitchen, which was her domain in the mornings; that is, before she headed off to work. And he would be taken to school by his aunt while his parents worked. Shiro remembered the good quality of life he'd had growing up, and was saddened by the fact that many of his friends weren't so lucky. Keith especially had had a rough life as a child._

 _Left behind by his mother when he was only a few months old. And his father dying when he was eight. Not everyone had what he did. And with a family legacy in his background, he was recognized and given extra attention by people; even ones he didn't know. His heritage is what got him into the Garrison, and his talent and drive that kept him there. He wouldn't be where he currently was without it. The younger boy quietly strolled into the room toward the couple. His father looked up from his paper and smiled._

 _"Well, good morning, Kiddo!" He told him warmly rising from his chair. The boy wiped the sleep from his eyes and yawned, and the older man picked him up and wrapped him in a hug. His mother stopped what she was doing and came to her husband's side. Placing a hand on her son's head and laying a gentle, loving kiss on the boy's cheek, she wrapped her arms around them both in a family embrace. When they broke apart, his father sat him down on the tall chair next to his own. And his mother busied herself once again._

 _"So Takashi, what would you like for breakfast this morning?" She asked, taking out a pan from the cupboard to the left of the little sink._

 _"B... blueberry pancakes?" The boy pipeded up quietly. They didn't make special foods like that very often;.. because sometimes they were in a hurry._

 _"You got it, sweetheart!" His mother smiled over her shoulder, bustling about the kitchen collecting the ingredients one by one._

 _"Wise choice, son." His father laughed, ruffling the boy's hair. "That's my boy." The room fell silent again, as his parents went back to their projects. He held his favorite stuffed bunny close to his chest, as he sat silently watched his mother cook. She was quietly humming something to herself, as she often did. Shiro knew what it was, but couldn't seem to remember at that moment. Then the scene went fuzzy and morphed into something else._

 _He saw himself in his Garrison uniform trekking through the canyon. As the other version of himself walked, Shiro looked up and saw Keith sneaking along on the opposite ledge. The teenager snuck along, trying not to be seen, when he suddenly hit a small rock that knocked around down the ledge making his other self stop and look in that direction. Seeing the young man above him, he smiled._

 _"Well,.. hello there." His voice warm and welcoming._

 _"Who are you?" The boy questioned cautiously. "And what are you doing out here?"_

 _"It's ok, I'm just out here for training." The older man said, picking up on Keith's hostility. "I'm Shiro. What's your name?" They continued to walk, along their paths._

 _"Keith, but what's it to you?" The boy not losing his suspicion and distrust._

 _"Do you live around here?" Shiro's other self took no notice of his distrustful behavior._

 _"I don't know." The boy responded; to Shiro's surprise._

 _"How come?" He was interested to know more._

 _"Not sure,.. I guess you could say I live here, since **here** is the only place you'll find me. I've been around this town for.. as long as I can remember... it's as close to home as I have."_

 _"Then you must know this area pretty well then." Shiro implied thoughtfully._

 _"Yeah." Suddenly the rocks crumbled and Keith tumbled down, grabbing at the edge to stop his fall. He clung to the rocks trying to get his footing and keep his grip on the ledge._

 _"Keith!" Though Shiro had just met him, he couldn't help but be worried for the boy. And without hesitation, he rummaged through his things grabbing his rock climbing equipment. Nailing the grapple line into the earth, he carefully climbed down the rocky ledge until he was right next to Keith._

 _"Grab my hand!" He called, reaching his long arm towards to boy. Keith stared at him. He hesitated for a long moment, glancing down for a second; before grabbing the older man's hand. And as soon as he let go of the ledge... it collapsed! They hung there for a second, then Shiro pulled Keith up and told him to grab the rope and pulled himself up._

 _"Go ahead, I'll be right behind you." He told him surely. Though he, too, was shaken, he still kept his calm, gentle demeanor. The boy seemed surprised by this, he had never seen someone stay calm in such a stressful situation like this before. And he'd never had anyone treat him so kindly, especially despite his hostile response. When they had reached the top and were safely back on, somewhat, solid ground, they continued on their way together. Keith had looped the grapple line together and slipped it over his shoulder. Shiro walked behind the two men, remembering this moment with great fondness._

 _They were coming to the end of the canyon, when the rocks crumbled from underneath Shiro's other self. He remembered sliding down the edge of the rocks and the dust that filled his nostrils making him cough his lungs out._

 _Shiro watched as the young boy leaped into action the way he had done for him. Staking the grapple line and heading down the steep slope. And soon hauled himself back up with Shiro right behind him once again._

 _The next scene he was launching for Kerberos; reassuring Keith and putting his fears and doubts to rest. Then seeing the moment he was taken by the Galra with Sam and Matt. Then he saw himself escaping the Galra ship and crash-landing on Earth only to be rescued again by Keith. The next thing he knew, he was seeing his journey of finding the Blue Lion. And becoming to the leader of team Voltron, and all the memories they'd made up until the events of the last twenty-four some hours. Meeting up with Cora again and learning more about his own heritage. Being blinded by the Galra blast, and everything that came after that. He couldn't see, but yet he could in his mind's eye. Then he remembered something..._

"Now that you know my past.." He breathed opening his eyes. "You want to help me. You want me to see through your eyes." It all made sense to him now. "But you had to get my attention first." He drew in another deep breath and focused his mind. The lion jetted forward slowly, Shiro focused drawing upon the connection he'd built with his lion. And soon his eyes and the lion's began to light up as their minds and spirits became merged connecting to each other with a big flash of light!...

 **What is up Shiro fans! Glad your enjoying this story. Thank you sooo much for taking the time to read it, unfortunately there only one chapter left after this! But don't worry! More fanfics are on their way. Not all of them are Voltron though. But anyway thank you, thank you, thank you for keeping up with my story!**

 **~~~**

 **How's it going everybody!!! Finally made the necessary edits to this chapter and I feel like it's much better than it was before. Hope you guys agree! Thx!!!**


	11. Ties To The Light

Chapter ten: Ties To The Light

"We're here." Allura declared. The ship hovered to a stop behind a space form, Nexzela in their sights. "Keith, what's your status?"

"We're in position." The former Red Paladin responded quietly over the com. They stood on a space rock closer to the planet as a Galra cruiser glided by the three Marmora warriors. "You're all clear to attack."

"Paladins, get to your Lions."

"But what about Shiro?" Pidge protested. "We still need to find him."

"I'll keep searching for him." Coran spoke up from his control panel. "But right now we need to protect Nexzela, before the Galra take it back and use it against us again." The Green Paladin lowered her head in disappointment.

"Ok." She replied softly. Heading for her lion's bay.

"Matt, are the rebel fighters ready?" Allura asked, as the lions all launched.

"Yep, ready and in route!" The young man replied happily, as the rebel ships joined the lions jetting toward Nexzela.

"Then let's start with that Galra cruiser approaching from that side." Allura decided, pushing her lion forward. And the others immediately joined her, jetting forth into battle. As soon as the battle was fully engaged, Keith, Kolivan, and another Blade made their move. Boarding their tiny stealth ship, they launched for the cruiser. Once inside, they crept through the ship, placing explosives as they went. Getting to the control room, somehow without being seen, they bolted the door shut and exited the cruiser. Heading to the next one, and the next, and the next, and the next. The battle raged on, escalating like the flames of a fire being stoked.

"Ok! We're ready!" Keith called over the com, as they flew away from that last ship.

"Copy that! Detonate in ten ticks." The Princess instructed, she then opened her com frequency. "Everyone, the plan is in motion, fall back. Just like we discussed."

"Ok, on my way." Lance responded.

"Copy!" Replied Pidge, turning her lion around.

"Ten-four." Hunk answered.

"We're with you!" Matt agreed. And one second later... _BOOM!_ The five cruisers and hundreds of fighters went up in flames destroying the entire convoy!

"Yes! We did it!" Matt cheered enthusiastically. Everyone celebrated with him, but their victory was short-lived. _BLAM, CRASH, ZAP!_ Galra fleets suddenly appeared, from seemingly nowhere. There were way more fleets than before.

"I don't think this is going to be as easy as we thought!" Pidge called.

"Well we need to take them down." Allura cried, pushing her lion back into battle. "Now!" The others followed the Princess's lead and attacked. But there was a lot more to look out for. When Zarkon's main ship burst forth from hyper-speed, looming over the battle already raging.

"Oh no! Oh man! Zarkon?!" Hunk cried, panicking. "Here?! Now?! Ohhh man this is not good! What are we gonna do?! We can't fight that thing without Voltron! And we can't form Voltron, because we still can't find Shiro!!!"

"You can now!" The Black Paladin's voice was a weight off the team's shoulders, as the Black lion burst through a Galra cruiser with its wings outstretched.

"Shiro!" They cried. As the wings folded back and he joined the battle.

"Shiro! You're ok!" Keith half screamed, relieved to hear his old friend's voice. Shiro cleared a path around the other lions, using almost every weapon the Black Lion had.

"Woah, Shiro how are you doing this?!" Lance gasped, unable to believe this. "And how are you seeing?!"

"I'm not exactly sure." Shiro responded, taking out another fighter.

"Has your sight returned?!" Pidge asked hopefully.

"I don't know." Shiro responded indefinitely. "But I feel more connected to my lion than I ever have been." He continued taking out ships and cruisers alike. He and the other lions united in a circle in the center of the battle.

"Shiro, look out!" Lance exclaimed. The Black Lion's head turned in the direction of the danger behind it, and Shiro saw what was coming. He pulled the lion back, only to have the beam of Galra energy graze the lion's head again!

"Shiro!" Keith cried, _not again!_ His thoughts screamed.

"It's ok." Shiro called, recovering his lion immediately. "I'm ok!" He had started to feel a burning sensation in his arm; as purple veins slowly began to advance down his arm and up his neck. But because he was seeing through the Black lion's eyes, he couldn't see what was happening to his body. And the battle kept him busy, though the pain was escalating quicker than the infection was spreading. Taking heavy fire by a fleet of fighters, and clearing them with his lasers, the Black Paladin made the call. "Guys, I think it's time to form Voltron!"

And when they emerged as the mighty robot, Shiro called for the sword, and slicing one ship, then two, then three, they cleared a path to Nexzela. They disbanded and the Galra fighters attacked, catching Shiro off guard. He took a hit that sent him spinning out and he landed on the ground with a huge _CRASH!_ Shaking the dizziness from his head, he looked up at the rest of the team. They were struggling, but so was he. The pain was becoming unbearable, and the purple veins were now spreading down his side and across his chest. Snaking up his neck and across his face, his eyes turned that same glowing purple. He groaned as the pain intensified more.

"Shiro are you ok?" Keith asked, worry hinting in his tone.

"The infection's getting worse." Shiro breathed. "We need to get to that generator, fast!"

"Coran, bring the castle in, we need backup." Allura commanded frantically.

"I'm on my way!" Her advisor responded immediately.

"Pidge! You and I will go help Shiro and get him to the generator. Lance, Hunk, cover us!"

"You got it!" Lance responded, as the Yellow and Red Lions blasted off from where they stood.

 _XXXX_

From where they were hiding, on a nearby asteroid, Keith suddenly thought of something.

"I think I have an idea!" Keith told Kolivan.

"What do you have in mind?" The leader of the Blades wondered.

 _XXXX_

The Green and Blue Lions ran to the Black one, which was picking itself up off the ground. Shaking the dust from it, it followed the other two lions. They dodged attacks from above, with skillful agility.

They stopped in front of one of the big pillars looming over them. The lions exposed their ramps and the three Paladins exited them. Shiro staggered out, growing extremely weak and the pain was unimaginable.

"The Haggarium infection is getting worse! We've got to stop this now!" Allura cried, coming to his side. "Fortunately this infection is bio-mechanical, so we won't be able to get infected from it." She explained draping his arm over her shoulder. Pidge connected her com to the generator; preparing the system. She tapped frantically at the panel in front of her. Then another panel slid away, revealing a flat surface that appeared to be a screen.

"Ok, the system is ready... I think." The Green Paladin reported finally. She stood Shiro directly in front of it, and lifted his right hand up to it. And when he stepped forward, his hand found the screen. It glowed and came to life; but then a rush of energy and a burst of light blinded the two woman, making them shield their eyes. Shiro felt something pulling at his arm.

"Uh.. Pidge?! What's going on?!" He tried to pull his arm back, but his struggle was in vain. The purple veins were becoming blue, as the glowing blue energy rushed up his arm. His arm was slowly being pulled deeper into the generator. Pidge could barely make out what was going on, the generator seemed to have locked onto Shiro's arm and was retracting it into a _lock and key_ type operation. His arm was almost up to his elbow, he continued trying to escape, becoming more and more frantic about it. The shots raining down on them wasn't helping. His arm was up to the middle of his upper arm now. The blue veins almost completely covering his body. His arm was up to his shoulder now, and beginning to stretch to his limit.

"Pidge!" Shiro cried fearing what would happen if this wasn't stopped. The blue veins had completely covered his body, and the generator retracted till his arm was almost about to pop off of his body. The energy erupted in an electrical fashion, and a blast threw Shiro back hitting the ground, out cold upon contact with the ground! Now that the blinding light was gone, they rushed to his side.

"Guys, Shiro's down!" Allura called over the com. "We've got to get out of here now! Or stop the Galra!"

"We're trying as hard as we can, but with only two lions, a castle and a couple of rebel fighters, were not making any difference!" Cried Lance, dodging another attack, despair beginning to overtake him. They were almost fully surrounded by Galra, when a bright blast of purple energy powered through the Galra fleets and clipped one of the ends of the Zarkon's main ship. Another blast followed and another and the Galra began to fall back, until none were to be seen. Everyone celebrated together, Keith and Kolivan had made their way back to the coalition controlled zaiforge cannons, formerly under Galra control. They used it to clear the Galra away from Nexzela.

"Nice work you two!" Allura cried happily.

"Actually." Kolivan corrected. "It was Keith who thought of using the cannons to our advantage."

"Good thinking, Keith!" The Princess agreed, pride filling her, with a smile.

"We need to get Shiro on the ship right away!" Pidge remarked looking up at Allura, from where she knelt next to the still Black Paladin.

"Why? What happened?!" Keith wondered, fear suddenly grabbing a hold of him again.

 _XXXX_

 _Shiro was sitting on a beautiful hillside. The blue sky and warm sun reflected his calm demeanor. He felt safe and secure for once. He felt no pain, or fear. The tragedies of his past no longer plagued him. He looked one way, and saw his family. He looked another way, he saw his friends. He looked another and saw the lions of Voltron. All around him were good and happy things that Shiro cared very much about. He smiled contently, seeing that there were paths like bridges to each of these things. But yet he didn't move. Then suddenly all these things fell away into darkness has he faded back into the waking world..._

The Black Paladin awoke to a blurry world of light and darkness, barely able to make out the figures standing around him. Though the blurriness appeared to be slowly improving, to his relief.

"Shiro?" Keith spoke up nervously. Shiro paused before answering.

"You don't know how good it feels to finally see your face again." He smiled warmly.

A wave of astounded relief washed over the team. Coran stepped forward with a small device that scanned Shiro's eyes.

"I don't believe it, his sight is completely back!" He breathed happily.

"The power from the generator must have fixed that along with the infection." Pidge supposed. "Everything is normal again."

"That's great news," sighed Cora, all her guilt and shame melting away at once, as she stood next to her brother. He pulled her into a hug and, returning it her smile faded. "But I don't belong here."

"Uh- wha- why not?" Shiro was taken aback by this.

"It's nothing personal, it's just... I've always been alone, and there are places I need to go. People I need to see. I will still be around if you need my help in the fight against Zarkon. But.. I, too, have a role to play, and I know what it is now. I know where I belong."

"I understand your decision." Shiro sighed, laying a hand on her shoulder, clearly disappointed. "If you think this is the right thing to do, I won't try to stop you. But at least stay in touch. We could use your help in our fight against the Galra. And when the time comes, you'll be sent for."

"Thank you, and I know I won't have to worry about you. You've clearly built something here,... a family. A new kind of family that you never really had."

"Cora, they're my _team_ family,.. you're blood, that will never change." Shiro explained. "And just remember that family comes first, no matter how they're related. A team is just a family brought together by a common goal, even with uncommon struggles."

"You are wise beyond your years, Takashi." Cora chuckled, hugging him one last time. "Thank you."

"We'll have a ship ready for your departure." Allura told her, stepping forward. "And here's a device for you to use to contact us at any time. May your trust be in team Voltron!" She declared.

"Thank you, for all you've done for me." Cora smiled thankfully. "I am free from the Galra tracker because of you. I have been encouraged _and_ impacted by each and every one of you. And I will always fight on behalf of Voltron, and it's battle for peace!" And as she set a course for her destination, she watched as the sensors lost the signal of the Castle of Lions, with a clear mind, and a clear conscience.

 _XXXX_

"It's good to have you back, Shiro." Keith said, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder. They had watched Cora disappear into the endless sea of stars and darkness.

"It's great to _be_ back." Shiro replied calmly. "And better than ever." And they glanced up at the screen above; at the map of the entire universe covered in green, signifying their success.

~Shades of Black~

 **Well Shiro fans that's it, the last chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it and as always leave a comment, and also as always more fanfic are on their way! Thx!**

 **~~~**

 **Hey guys!! Here's the last chapter!! So glad that this story is finally re-finished! And I definitely feel like it'd better than ever!! But I'll leave that for you to decide! Enjoy!! Thx!!!**


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